BUILD IN SLEEPER

[bushrod]

Has anyone ever heard of adding a sleeper in in a box, by inclosing 4' of the 26' box at the nose having the hole cut from the cab one on each side for windows, framing bottom with 4x4 studs on floor adding insulation and so on. What do you guys think of this idea.

 

[greg334]

Actually I went through a design with a box manufacture for my sort of next step truck.

What we determined that wood would not work, so a steel frame was designed to create a box for safety. The shear strength of the wall in the design was better than the plain walls with a gap in between the sleeper and box. The problem that made me thing twice about it is the lack of separation when hauling Hazmat. The safety factor is number one in my book and one spill or leak of a hazmat load will mess my day up!

 

[dieselphreak2K]

i've seen these in a few trucks, and most seem happy with the setup. Obviously, the sleeper is quite wide, and can be made so you could easily stand up in it.

 

[wallytrucker1]

I recently hauled some drums of"radioactive" and was quite impressed with all the safety issues they went through, including scanning the whole box floor prior to loading. After loading and major securement, they took their testing equipt. and scanned my sleeper. Sleeper registered "TOO HOT" for radiation and we had to redo the load farther away from the sleeper. The point of my post is I can't imagine sleeping in the box with that stuff, even if they (DOE) would let you. I would rather put a Harley up front..

 

[LDB]

Recently I saw a truck at a shipper that is an Isuzu LCF model. The rear window had been removed and a boot put between it and an opening cut into the box. The box had a swing door on the side near the nose to provide another source of access. They had about 4' of floor to roof space and another 4' that was the bunk about 52" above the floor. In the box a single skid could slide under the bunk area since it had about 52" of clearance. They had 3 floor spots so they could haul 5 skids max if the 2 rear spots could stack. There was stuff like hand trucks along the sides so they only could haul center position. There may have been wheel well intrusion too. I don't remember if it was dock high but am thinking it wasn't. It was in interesting setup and seemed to work for them.

Leo Bricker, 73's K5LDB, OOIDA 677319
Owner, Panther trucks 4958, 5447
Highway Watch Participant, Truckerbuddy
EO Forum Moderator
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Support the entire Constitution, not just the parts you like.

 

[ATeam]

It would be wise to check with your carrier before building such a sleeper. The FMCSA rules are vague regarding sleeper construction requirements. One carrier may interpret them one way and another carrier another way. See 393.76 Sleeper berths.

http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/rules-regulations/administration/fmcsr/fmcsrruletext.asp?section=393.76