Heavy Duty Trucking, December 2020

SAFETY COMPLIANCE 6 ways drivers can get better sleep Hours of service regulations alone cant prevent drowsy driving By Jim Park Equipment Editor jpark@ truckinginfo com he hours of service rules that are intended to prevent fatigue dont always have the intended effect and T PHOTO JIM PARK in some cases can make things worse when drivers sleep wake schedules are turned upside down The rules also dont account for the fact that individuals have different needs for sleep Some people biologically require six or seven hours of sleep while others may require eight or nine Nor do they account for night owls and early birds Some of the rules intended to protect drivers are great but some of these duty cycles create consequences and problems says Chris Winter a board certified neurologist and internationally recognized sleep expert with his own practice Charlottesville Neurology and Sleep Medicine in Charlottesville Virginia The rules dont take individual chronotypes into account For example Im a much more dangerous driver in the morning than I am at night If you restrict my ability to drive at night are we really making things that much safer for me and for the people on the road when Im driving Winter is also the author of a best selling book The Sleep Solution Why Your Sleep is Broken and How to Fix It He says lack of sleep can affect almost every organ and system in the body including our immune system cardiovascular system and even our moods When individuals dont get the sleep they need they tend not to make great decisions he says Sleep deprived individuals tend to suffer a decline in short term concentration as well as their ability to focus It also affects their mood and interestingly the ability to interpret the moods or the feelings of somebody that were talking to Those are common but lesser known effects of a lack of sleep Some of the more commonly known problems include hypertension and increased risk of heart attacks and strokes And its not just a lack of sleep Irregular sleep schedules can wreak havoc on our bodies too Everything that happens inside us is based on a highly regulated internal clock called a circadian rhythm We are biologically wired to sleep at night and be awake and alert during the day which is pretty obvious Whats not so obvious is what happens to digestion and other processes when you eat a meal at 3 a m when your system thinks it should be sleeping What happens with a truck driver who is driving all around the clock Winter says If you ask them when they go to bed when do they wake up when do they drive when do they rest they cant answer the question because every day is different If you could peer deep inside that individuals brain and body youd see all these other processes digestion metabolism cognition are all going to be sort of haphazard as well Since hours of service rules alone dont address these problems its important to educate drivers on the need for better sleep and how to get it Winter offers the following tips GET THE AMOUNT OF SLEEP YOU PERSONALLY NEED We are used to hearing experts say that most people need between seven and 1 nine hours of sleep per night but Winter says some people are genetically wired for less They can wake fully rested and restored in Humans are wired to sleep at night and be awake during the day When schedules upset our sleep sleep quality can suffer along with safety and health perhaps six hours with no consequences If you are somebody who genetically needs six or six and a half hours of sleep you cant sleep eight Winter says That genetic need for sleep we all carry around is pretty set in stone and trying to sleep more can lead to incredible frustration If youre one of those six hour people Winter recommends using the hours during a required rest break not spent sleeping as quiet downtime Resting is extremely restorative to a body Meditating or if you believe in higher powers its a great time to pray Or even just reading or doing quiet activities in a relatively dark environment can be really impactful he says When someone tells him that they get by on five hours sleep a night Winter usually puts them into one of two categories One is the group that needs seven hours but can deal with five effectively The other group might need eight hours but just thinks they can function on less I know a truck driver who rolls his hair up into the window so if his head nods as hes falling asleep his hair will jerk his head and keep him awake Winter says Six hours a night obviously isnt enough for him AIM FOR CONSISTENT SLEEP TIMES Consistent sleep and wake times are as important if not more so than the 2 number of hours we spend in bed In fact the hours of service rules 24 hour rotation HDT DECEMBER 2020 20 WWW TRUCKINGINFO COM