It's a Team's Life

How do you sleep?

Neither one of us had a problem sleeping while the other drove.   What we did not account for was the fact that we would have to wake up and drive ten to eleven hours straight through.   When we were driving in our pickup we would take cat naps in the front seat and we very seldom drove all night long.

Our first week of being a team I spent my time trying to go to sleep and at the same time trying to figure out how to file bankruptcy and give our truck back to Daimler Chrysler.   I was exhausted scared and intimidated by the huge life style change we were committed to.   We finally hit our first weekend and were able to catch up on our sleep before the next load offer came in and the thoughts of giving back our truck went out the window!

I was trying to get comfortable driving our truck in traffic, learn how to maneuver through cities and find a business address, and get used to the length of our truck.   I was also trying to learn how to sleep in a vehicle going down the road at fifty eight miles an hour with trucks passing within feet of my head at seventy miles an hour.  

We had an inferior mattress that came with the truck that let us bottom out after being thrown into the air from the bumps in the road.   The truck is not well insulated and the road sounds seemed to blast through the walls of the sleeper.   The curtain between the sleeper and the cab of the truck would open and allow light in.   The sounds of the CB and the radio would also add to the distraction of a peaceful sleep.

As time passed and exhaustion seeped in we gradually learned to sleep through many of the sounds.   We had a memory foam mattress made for the sleeper that does not allow bouncing which helped a lot.   I purchased ear plugs that helped with the noise.   We bought chip clips to hold the curtains shut and we fixed all rattles.    

Now after almost six years of team driving both of us can go to sleep easily and sleep through most anything.   It takes time to learn to get a good night’s sleep while in a moving vehicle, but it can be done.