Sleep 8 System

Long haul truckers fall asleep at the wheel. A lot. If you’re a long haul trucker, you have almost certainly experienced this, even if it’s not something you’d go around talking about to everyone you meet. Sleep deprivation on the road is a huge personal and public safety problem today. In fact, the effects of sleep deprivation are the same impaired judgment and slowed reaction times as those of a drunk driver (up to the equivalent of a 0.5% Blood Alcohol Content!).

Forgetting your own safety for a moment, traffic accidents caused by sleep deprivation number in the millions every year. There are tens of thousands of deaths related to effects of sleep deprivation or outright falling asleep at the wheel. Those are general road safety statistics related to sleep problems, but it’s even worse for truck drivers as a specific demographic. Reports vary, but somewhere between 20 to 40% of all trucking accidents are caused by sleep-related fatigue. Read that again… 20-40% of all accidents.

So, what causes sleep problems for long haul truckers? Obviously, very long hours make it difficult to catch sleep, but there’s a lot more to it than that. Chronic insomnia and other sleep issues can multiply the effects and the frustration of sleep deprivation for truckers.

Are you controlling your caffeine intake when you’re on the road?

This doesn’t mean cutting out caffeine and other stimulants, but understanding how it works in your own body and making sure you’re using it where appropriate. We’ll be covering caffeine and how it works on the body in an upcoming article.

How much sleep did you have the night before a long night driving?

Building up a “sleep debt”, or putting off sleep night after night, can lead to serious fatigue while driving.

Can you fall asleep when you have the chance?

Insomnia, or being just unable to fall asleep when you should, is a frustrating problem experienced by everyone. Sometimes it can last for weeks or months on end. Many people turn to chemical answers to what is often really something going on in your mind.

Is your mind in the right place?

Stress and mental state have as much to do with falling asleep as the time of day and how tired you feel. We recommend finding something that can work for you to help you relax your mind quickly and effectively, such as the audio trainer modules included in our sleep 8 system.

What can you do about it?

Finally, while it may be easier to pop No-Doz and Ambien to try to regulate your sleep, but our brains were just not made to operate that way. Addressing the root causes of short-term and chronic insomnia will help you to regulate your own sleep, even where you can’t enjoy the benefit of a full 8 hours. Having more control over your own ability to fall asleep quickly and consistently will give you the tools you need to prevent sleep deprivation on the road and stay awake on your own terms. We designed the Sleep 8 System specifically to help you develop this ability in yourself.

Please listen to our podcast on the causes of sleep issues and insomnia for more tips. You can even listen on the road. We promise not to put you to sleep… right away, that is!