Author: Casey Nighbor

Sleep deprivation and fatigue has always been a hurdle for truck drivers. But not being alert as a driver can create a variety of problems. Not only are you at a higher risk of causing an accident due to an impaired response time, but chronic fatigue is bad for your general health and longevity.

In fact, the Large Truck Crash Causation Study (LTCCS) reported that 13 percent of commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers were considered to have been fatigued at the time of their crash.

Learn some tips to reduce driver fatigue to stay alert and safe on the road.

Tips to prevent driver fatigue

1.Maintain a healthy lifestyle

An easy way to ensure a good night’s sleep is to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Eating regularly or eating at odd times can make your blood sugar irregular and impact your ability to fall asleep. Also eating big meals or going to bed hungry can also keep your awake. Having healthy snacks with you can make sure that you’re always properly fueled and able to get a good night’s sleep.

Also generally practicing healthy habits like staying hydrated and cutting off caffeine in the afternoon can help ensure you are able to fall asleep normally and naturally.

2.Create an optimal sleeping environment

When you are falling asleep, there are some things you can do to create an ideal sleep environment. Having the room at a cool temperature, minimizing light and noise and getting off electronic devices an hour before bed are all tried and true methods. Experiment with your bedroom environment to figure out what works best for you and your needs.

3.Try not to drive when your body get naturally sleepy

While it is always recommended to get an adequate amount of sleep each night, it’s also a good idea not to drive when your body gets naturally sleepy. This is typically between the hours of 12-6 a.m. and 2-4 p.m.

This is not always possible but it’s something to keep in mind if you’ve been getting less sleep than normal.

4.Know the signs of drowsiness

Know when you are getting drowsy and tired before it becomes a hazard. Some signs include frequent yawning, blurry vision, heavy eyes or trouble focusing. Learn how your body tells you that it’s tired and respond accordingly.

5.Take a nap

When safe, you should take a nap when feeling drowsy or are becoming less alert. A good nap is at least 10 minutes long but less than 45 minutes. More than that can impact your ability to fall asleep later. Always allow 15-20 minutes to fully wake up from a nap before continuing to drive.

What doesn’t work

With these tips, there is also things you shouldn’t be doing or trying. The only true method of conquering fatigue is adequate sleep. Coffee, nicotine, soft drinks, and energy drinks are not conducive to a healthy lifestyle or staying safe on the road. Things like blasting the radio or opening a window are alertness “tricks” that don’t actually help you stay awake or alert safety on the road. If you are becoming sleepy or drowsy while driving, you should pull over at a safe location and rest.

Drinking enough water is critical to both your mental and physical health as a truck driver. Although it can be tempting to not drink a lot of water in order to eliminate stops, the consequences of that to your health can be detrimental.

Learn how drinking more water can benefit your health and learn how to increase your water intake.

The benefits of proper hydration

The benefits of drinking enough water is almost too many to list. Basically all body functions are impacted in some way by water and can easily go awry if you are not properly hydrated. Here are just a few of the benefits:

Promotes cardio health: Dehydration lowers your blood volume. This means that your body has to work even harder to pump blood through your body to get enough oxygen to your cells.

Cleanses your body: Your kidneys are the organs that can help filter waste out of your body. Without water, your kidneys cannot function properly.

Keeps your body cool: If you are dehydrated, it takes longer for the blood vessels to expand and cool your body down.

Keeps muscles and joints working properly: Water is critical to ensuring your muscles get proper nutrition and lubricating joints.

Increased alertness:  Your brain is very impacted by how hydrated you are. Studies show that even mild dehydration can impair aspects of brain function, mood, concentration and alertness.

Reduced stress on the body and mind: Being dehydrated generally creates stress in the body. Not having enough water to do bodily functions slows down and stresses your internal organs. The stress of dehydration also stresses your body and impacts mental health and focus.

Ways to stay hydrated

Now that you know how important hydration is, it is time to switch focus on how to stay properly hydrated. These 3 tips can help you work towards reaching proper hydration.

1. Set goals

The first step to making sure you are properly hydrated is to figure out how much water your body actually needs. 8 glasses is the standard rule of thumb but that may not be adequate for everyone. A better rule to follow is to drink between ½-1 ounce of water for each pound you weight. For example, a 180 pound person should drink between 90 and 180 ounces of water a day.

To find out if you are drinking enough water is to check the color of your urine (it should be clear) and also to monitor if you are thirsty throughout the day. Thirst is an indicator that your body is already dehydrated so the goal is always to drink enough water that you are rarely thirsty.

2. Track your water

Now that you’ve set your water goal, the next step is to track it. There are a few ways to do this.

There are a many water bottles on the market now that track the amount of ounces you are drinking. Tracking your water is also now as easy as entering it into an app. Many fitness apps have water trackers and there are separate water tracking apps that track ounces and remind you to drink water if you are behind on your daily goal.

3. Add flavor

It can often be difficult to drink more water if you are used to drinking soda or energy drinks with sugar and flavor.

But drinking more water doesn’t have to be boring. There a quite a few options for making your water more flavorful. Adding fruit, vegetables or herbs to your water is a healthy way to bump up the flavor in your water. You can also add sugar-free water enhancements like lemonade or other flavors. There are a lot of options available at your local grocery store. Even making iced tea without sugar is a good way to consume more water. Herbal tea is an even better option because it doesn’t contain caffeine and often has additional health benefits.

Experiment what works for you and what helps you drink more water throughout your day.