Tag Archives: wake up

3 Tips to Avoid Road Fatigue this Holiday Season

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With the arrival of the holidays, truck drivers are faced with increased workloads and longer hours. Due to this, sleep can further fall to the back-burner. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the loss of sleep can contribute to 30 to 40 percent of all highway collisions. Sleep deprivation is constantly ranked as a top concern for both truck drivers and safety administrations. This holiday season, help keep the road safe with these important tips from Gray Transportation.

Treat Caffeine with Care

Although a day driving can seem impossible without assistance from caffeine, the stimulate is not a cure all. According to the Sleep Education foundation, caffeine not only makes it difficult to go to sleep but it delays your body’s internal timing. This reduces your total sleep time and limits the amount of deep sleep your body enjoys. To combat this, you don’t need to give up caffeine completely. Instead, try to practice moderation. Limit your intake to no more than 300 to 400 milligrams a day which equals about 3 to 4 cups of coffee (8 oz.).

Stop Smoking

Cigarettes contain the stimulus nicotine, which can disrupt your sleeping schedule. A study from the University of Florida found that for each cigarette a person smoked, they lost 1.2 minutes of sleep due to the nicotine’s stimulating withdrawal effects. Smokers also wake more frequently during the night and feel more restless in the morning. Even more alarmingly, smokers are 2.5 times more likely to suffer from obstructive sleep apnea as the act of inhaling smoke irritates the tissue in the nose and throat, causing swelling.

Maintain a Healthy Weight

About 65% of Americans are now overweight or obese and the condition is particularly damaging to truck drivers. As fast food restaurants and gas stations are often the only choice on long stretches of highway, it can be challenging to practice healthy eating habits. However, this can lead to complications. Not only does obesity lead to an increased risk of sleep apnea, but getting too little sleep actually helps cause weight gain as well. To fight this vicious cycle, make realistic changes to your diet. Switch from soda to water. To limit snacking during the day, avoid skipping breakfast. Even fast food restaurants now have healthier options, so trade in the bacon cheeseburger for a salad with grilled chicken. Also, don’t be wary of preparing your own food on the road. By using crock pots, you can control the ingredients you use, and have leftovers for the rest of the week.

The holidays mean increased time on the road which can come with potential risk of sleep deprivation. By using these tips, you can improve your sleep quality and increase road safety for yourself and your fellow drivers.

At Gray’s Transportation, our driver’s safety is always our number one concern. Find out more about joining our team today.

Time to Get Up and Get on the Road: How to Kick Start Your Morning

Mornings can be tough. Not everyone is a morning person but when you are a truck driver, you may have to get up and get on the road bright and early. But the energy you have while driving throughout the day is determined by your morning routine. Gray Transportation offers these tips can help you be more productive and energized all day long even if you have a hard time getting up in the morning.

Don’t Hit Snooze: When your alarm goes off, adrenaline kicks in and your body is ready to get up. Those extra few minutes are not work confusing your mind and body. Hitting the snooze button throws off your internal clock and can mess up your entire day. Get up and get going.

Don’t Drink Coffee Right Away: What!? We know that coffee is the solution to a rough morning for many (most) people, but studies have shown that caffeine has a better effect on you after you have been awake a couple hours. Try starting your day with a glass of water to wake you up and kick start your metabolism. Then coffee. It’ll be okay, we promise.

Eat Breakfast: The first meal you eat each day determines your energy levels when driving and working throughout the day. Even if you don’t have a huge appetite, fill your body with protein to help wake it up with foods like oatmeal, fresh fruit, or drink a protein shake. Save the donuts for special occasions.

Exercise: It may seem counter intuitive, but starting your day with activity (when you have little of it) will increase your energy and speed up your metabolism all day. Simple stretching or yoga poses can improve your day if you can’t muster the energy to complete a full work out. Stretching wakes up your mind and body and is great before sitting behind the wheel.

Gray Transportation wants you to live a lifestyle that is as active and healthy as possible. We want you to be safe and happy out there on the road.

Wake Up and Stay Up

Being a trucker means we have to be alert all day, every day. There’s no room for error while on the road, so that means alertness is vital to our everyday livelihood. Gray Transportation is bringing you tips for ways to wake up and stay up while on the road. Today’s blog will be filled with helpful information for staying awake on the road, which could save a life.

Tips to Wake Up and Stay Up on the Road:

Keep your emotions in check. Whether you were cut off by a car just a bit ago or had a disagreement with the dispatcher. Don’t let the event get to you and affect your driving ability. The frustration will wear you down, so just let it go before it gets too distracting. Keeping your emotions even all around will help lower your likelihood for distracted driving.
Take a walk or get exercise. Early this year, we gave you ways to exercise while on the road, use those tips because they can also help to keep you awake on the road. While at a rest stop or the truck stop, take some time to walk around for 10-15 minutes. You’d be surprised at how much energy you will have after that. Physical activity is important each day, so take the time at your stops to stretch, exercise or walk around.
Don’t get overly exhausted. Some days in the truck are longer than others, so don’t let the long days exhaust you. If you feel as if you are dozing off a bit, don’t take the chance of falling asleep on the road. Pull over on an off ramp or the nearest rest area to take a 30 minute nap. You’d be surprised at the amount of energy a short nap can bring you.

Gray Transportation understands the importance of staying awake on the road so we hope these tips help while you are driving. Interested in driving for Gray? Find more information here.