Truck driving is a profession notorious for its unusual work schedules. Truckers have to be awake early in the morning and sometimes late at night in order to make deliveries and receive new assignments. Since these things don’t happen at the same time every day, a trucker’s sleep schedule can really start to suffer. Learn how important sleep is for truck drivers.

Avoid Accidents

The most important reason to make sure you get enough sleep as a truck driver is to protect yourself and other motorists. When you’re tired, your brain responds much more slowly to danger. You may only have a split second to respond when you notice something is wrong. Sleepiness can make a difference in response time.

Exhausted truck drivers falling asleep at the wheel is a major concern. To fix this problem, avoid logging your rest time when you’re not actually resting so you have enough time to sleep later.

Improve Your Mood

Countless studies show that sleep has a huge impact on mood. You’re more likely to be grouchy, stressed, anxious, and sad when you’re only getting a few hours of sleep each night. You’re also more likely to have a bad temper, which is a big deal when driving. Road rage is always dangerous, but when semi-trucks are involved, it can be deadly.

Prevent Body Aches

The main purpose of sleep is to let your body recover from the day’s exertions. It’s the time when your cells heal themselves and prepare your body for the next day. When you don’t get sufficient sleep, your body doesn’t have adequate time to heal. For a truck driver, sleep is an important step in relieving body aches that come from sitting all day and driving over bumpy roads.

Drivers never getting any sleep is a myth about truck driving, but it’s true that many drivers don’t have the best sleep habits. We hope you’ve learned how important sleep is for truck drivers so you can start getting the rest you need. Sacrificing your sleep time to make more deliveries will only cause you to burn out.