how to fit sleep and eating and showering into 10 hours off-duty

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trucksarekewl@reddit

If you need a consistent 8hrs of sleep to function, you will be absolutely miserable in this industry.

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genocyde26008219@reddit

I’m already miserable and I get 8hrs on a good day. Most of the time I get woken up by dispatch for a stupid fucking reason. This is how work place violence occurs.

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Unfortunately true. I don't make a habit of it, but the other night I couldn't get to sleep, and had to leave by 4:30. Probably wound up with about 3 hours of sleep. But I'm an early morning person. I can function well as long as I get one REM cycle in. I have to be done early afternoon or take a good nap, and it's certainly only good for one day.

One of the benefits of the way the Army messed with my sleep, I suppose.

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dd961984@reddit

Exactly this

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Wreckage365@reddit

If you can do 7 it makes it work. 6 is way too little for me (and according to most people, according to statistics.) 8 is just not feasible I agree.

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Cracka56@reddit

Hell yeah I did 26 hours on 3 hours of sleep

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SexyWampa@reddit

Meal prep on 34s when you get them, you'll find you don't need to shower everyday, especially on drive days. Use the big wash cloth sized wipes when you can't. Get a 12 volt fridge and freezer combo, keep groceries on board. You'll also find on drive days, you only need about six hours of sleep. You'll find a rhythm , usually takes about six months to figure it all out. If you're not doing flatbed, you don't break a sweat that often, you can also catch cat naps during wait and load/unload times.

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Lord_B33zus@reddit

This ain’t the job for you if you need 8hrs and can’t manage to eat healthy and shower within the other 2.

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Automatic-Brother770@reddit

My dispatch doesn't care how I run my clock as long as it is legal and on time. I work for May and they have been pretty driver first in my experience, though the pay is ass

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AndromedanPrince@reddit

you pick 2 and call it a day

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Whitehoneybun666@reddit

A lot of us don’t sleep for that long I only get 4-6 hours if that but I eat once I park for the day shower in the mornings before I leave

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Dense_Feedback6273@reddit

Do u get to use the shower every morning? How are the wait times? I’m about to start trucking soon

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Whitehoneybun666@reddit

For th most part I do unless it’s one of them days I’m held up somewhere and can’t make it to a truck stop but I start my days between midnight and 4am so I hardly have a wait but on late starts sometimes I wait 30 minutes to an hour

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stateside_irishman@reddit

You have to be off 10 hours to regain your 11/14. That does not mean you have to drive as soon as your 10 is done. I keep a set sleep schedule for mine and everyone else's safety.

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PanicRevRay@reddit

I wish i could im local and my dispatch doesnt give a shit

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KingNebyula@reddit

Find a different job. I’ve been local for 3 years and come in whenever I want within reason, sometimes 2:30pm, sometimes as late as 6

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ensok1@reddit

I just quit a local/reginal carrier that expected this. I worked a local route from 5:00am to noon one day and they expected me to be back at 10pm for an out of state route the next day. I'm a truck driver, not a slave.

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PanicRevRay@reddit

I get that our routes start from about 12 in the morning to about 5 normally and if they don't have another person guess who's doing 10 hrs off

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Healthier6908@reddit

OTR isn’t for everyone

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truckensafely@reddit

It’s 13 off duty & 11 hours of driving.

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Wide-Engineering-396@reddit

Y you shower on your 30 minute break and you only eat one good meal a day

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warwgn@reddit

Here’s my way of packing that in…

I try to make sure I have 8 hours dedicated to sleep each night.

On a non-shower night: I give myself 1 hour for dinner and tv to relax before bed, and 1 hour in the morning for breakfast/coffee/TV to “mentally prepare” before I “clock-in” to start work.

On a shower night: I typically do the same as above, except I reduce my sleep time to 7 hours.

When I park, I’ll continue monitor the flying J app to see how many are ahead of me, and reserve my shower spot (while I’m eating) try and time it so my shower is ready when I’m done eating, so I can go in without waiting.

I prefer to shower at night, after dinner and before bed. It relaxes my sore muscles and helps me fall asleep faster.

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Dense_Feedback6273@reddit

How long can one take for a shower time?

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deezkeys098@reddit

You break it up during the day. My 30 min break is taken at a Walmart on my route there I grab food ingredients and throw it in my slow cooker to cook for 3/4 hours. When I park for the night I take a shower or watch a 40 min show on tv and it’s done If I’m parking at a truck stop with no showers that night I will stop at my fuel spot once done fueling I walk in shower real quick and put on the same clothes. Takes 44 min total for fueling and shower.

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thescartographer@reddit

Honestly look into flatbed. I get about ten hours to actually sleep, plus whatever extra to cook and unwind, because most places are normal business hours. I get to my pickup at 7pm and they open at 6am, sometimes my appointment is at 7:30-8:30, so I have time to not rush and get the rest I need.

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Dense_Feedback6273@reddit

What if your late to your appointment?

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CashWideCock@reddit

10 hours off is minimum required by law. I usually take 12 hours off.

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Dense_Feedback6273@reddit

Don’t dry cans and reefers get a lot of naps while waiting? I wonder if it’s like that for flatbed tho?🤔

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colbsk1@reddit

Humans are creatures of adapting and habit. You could do it if you really wanted too.

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waveyvibez22@reddit

I do reefer and I take 12hr breaks majority of the time. But I deliver drop and hook and if it’s live unload dispatch gives me plenty time. You learn how to time manage and sometimes you’ll get less sleep. I only do split sleeper if I have to “stop” my clock from rolling. But whenever I do that I still atleast take a 10hr. I’m not messing around with MY TIME just because the shipper,consignee, etc made me sit and wait longer than usual. As long as you get the load delivered on time no one should be bitching at you to get up right at your 10hr reset- if they do LEAVE immediately.

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DingleberryOrchard@reddit

Once I got about I months in, I stopped taking exactly 10 hours. Now I give myself time to cook, clean, shower, submit BOLs, or anything else I need to do.

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Seanw59@reddit

I’ve had to tell my dispatchers a few times as long as my deliveries are on time I’ll run my clock the way I see fit

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DingleberryOrchard@reddit

Once you establish that you're reliable and punctual, they'll leave you alone.

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IBeLying@reddit

Exactly this. I can go weeks without talking to dispatch

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DrillTheThirdHole@reddit

some will, some won't. and regardless, up until you prove that point to them, they'll be bothering you about it.

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Wasabi-Kungpow@reddit

If you cant do 10 dont get into reefer where we are getting 7 at times.

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TouchMyBoomstick@reddit

Wait yall are getting breaks? - Bullrack

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RJonesLore@reddit

I agree with both sides. It can really fucking suck sometimes. I’ve gone days doing splits simply because the loads demand it. But, I’ve also had upwards of 15 hour breaks. Like, with this past weekend with Memorial Day, which is definitely an anomaly, but I was at a receivers for 37 hours in The Bronx. They were suppose to be open. But surprise, they weren’t. What really sucks about that is I was scheduled for a 34 at home immediately after that. I still got it. But boy does it suck to get two 34’s back to back like that.

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Frogspoison@reddit

Been there. You gotta be able to tell dispatch to fuck off, and it doesn't matter if they do the whole "off-duty while being loaded", don't do splits like that.

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Wasabi-Kungpow@reddit

I do splits when its beneficial for me not the company. Like getting a banger load but it needs picked up in 8 hours.

Mostly I do the short end of splits to pause the clock but usually finish with a minimum 10.

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Radiant_Swan187@reddit

I think you're still benefiting the company there lol

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Wasabi-Kungpow@reddit

True but I wont do it if the next load picks up in 8 hours but is 200 miles or going to the northeast. I get to choose when it benefits me.

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homucifer666@reddit

I do reefer, and I regularly take +12 hour breaks. Yeah, dock time can be wonky, but the rest of the time you can manage how you like. 🤷🏻‍♀️

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CobraWasTaken@reddit

Speak for yourself. I run reefer and often take 12-13 hour breaks. Occasionally I have to do a 10 and very rarely I have to do a split break.

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Auquaholic@reddit

Or less. It's more like a few naps scattered about. Daytime loads and nighttime unloads. It's a fucken nightmare, whether you're asleep or awake.

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true_canadian661@reddit

You need at least 10 off, you don't have to run min turn around, I only do when it serves me, otherwise I take 12

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Kabanasuk@reddit

A dispatch once told me. Better late cause ypu overslept than late cause we had to tow you out of a ditch

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Gotsnuffy@reddit

U can’t eat and shower in 2 hours?

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DumatRising@reddit

Depends heavily on what you do, but you'll want to get your showering down and find ways to multi task.

Back when I ran hard I'd park at a truck stop for my 30 and take a shower then, parking is usually pretty free around lunchtime and early afternoon so it made it pretty easy to get in and get out each day. I've got an air fryer/mini oven in my truck so it's not an issue to cook up some food while I'm doing something else. So a pretty typical day could be getting some cereal then starting my pre trip, driving a bit, stopping for my 30, putting some food in the air fryer while I take a shower, eating it, driving some more, stopping for my 10, throwing some dinner in the air fryer and watching some TV or YouTube while it cooks, eating it, playing some video games for a couple hours, and then heading off to sleep to start it again the next day.

I've also got stuff like granola bars for if I don't feel like having a meal and am just a bit peckish.

If you try to fit everything you need to do into the 10 and doing it one at a time it probably won't work out well but moving stuff around and multitasking makes it a lot smoother. It's all about how you approach the problem of getting stuff done.

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Elite_Fighter@reddit

7 is the latest minimum. But also a 3 hour nap in the middle of the day. Government says that's enough.

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Abubble13@reddit

You absolutely can, just depends on when you want to shower. I do 100 pushups a day, every time I stop my truck I do 20-30. So pretrip, break, break, postrip. If your shower has to be at the end, I don't know what to tell ya, hopefully you got a terminal you can plan around or ending at a good time where there aren't lines. Food if you meal prep is just heating it up and eat while relaxing for bed, easily an hour to eat and relax in an hour then sleep 7.5-9 hours depending how distracting you relaxation is. Or just take longer than a 10

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