Sleep is good (or never hug a porcupine)

Walter was BEAT. He’d been driving more than 18 hours, and had been promised that a relief driver was waiting at the next truckstop. It turned out he wasn’t promised a FRESH driver, only a new one… and Walter watched as his relief staggered off a bus he’d been driving for 12 hours, and into the drivers seat of Walter’s coach.

Walter dozed off in the seat right behind the driver, and was sound asleep when he felt a poke in his ribs. The teenaged passenger sitting next to him was alarmed, because the bus was weaving, seeming to select lanes at random, and she was afraid the new driver was asleep at the wheel.

Raising one eyelid, Walter turned to her and said “Shut up kid… he’s just practicing his passing.”

This was “back in the day”. Rules were different, and as a non-profit, we were exempt. The way we operated was perfectly legal, even if it was goofy.

There has always been a gap between what is legal, and what is right. No matter how well intentioned, regulation can never completely bridge that divide.

Currently there are a number of studies being done on fatigue, and how best to regulate hours of service. There is talk of grouping us with truckers, and we should point out that driving a coach is less grueling than a truck, and more hours may be safe.

New technologies that recognize fatigue are being developed, and it appears that electronic on-board recorders are coming. New tools will be available to manage driver’s behavior.

A weakness of “rules” is that they are aimed at average performers, while new technology may provide real time alerts when an individual is tired. A driver who can drive 10 hours one day, may only be safe for 8 the next. The goal is managing fatigue, not hours.

Once past the hiccups that new stuff brings, these developments will help make us safer. On the other hand, technology and regulation can’t completely get the job done.

Two well known examples help make the point:

In one case, a driver is facing jail time as a result of a fatal accident where he had more than adequate time off, but chose to spend it in a casino, rather than bed.

In another, from a regulatory viewpoint, the company and driver of the Bluffton University chartered bus that wrecked on an Atlanta overpass in 2007 had done virtually everything right. Even so, 7 people died.

The first illustrates that there is no substitute for judgment. Why did the driver think the company got him a room? The letter of the law offers few protections without honoring its spirit.

Educate drivers on the effects of fatigue, acquaint them with the consequences of silly behavior and encourage them to make wise use of time off. That includes actually sleeping, being careful what medicines they ingest, and even what they eat. Consider making a presentation on fatigue at drivers meetings.

The Bluffton case makes a different point. In this case, around dawn, a rested driver failed to comprehend highway markings and drove off an overpass. The key word in that is “dawn”.

It’s accepted science that human beings have two dramatic “down” times. Just before dawn is the “biggie”, with mid-afternoon another. Accident statistics bear this out dramatically, and, as this incident illustrates, even a rested driver is “down” at dawn. Filmed while driving early in the morning and KNOWING they were being studied, test drivers still fell into “micronaps”.

Truck drivers know it, and many self regulate. Check a highway rest area around sunup, and you’ll see tons of trucks parked while drivers nap.

Line operators can take a hint from the sleeping truckers, adjusting schedules to include stops at dawn.

Charter companies may want to discourage customers from taking trips that include driving all night. Preventing sleep deprivation can be a component of your sales process, resisting risky business. Leave an unreasonable consumer to the competition. Let your rival bet their company’s future.

When clients insist, encourage drivers to take a break near dawn.

One potential sunup solution is banning commercial vehicles from operating during that dangerous hour… tempting, but impractical.

Currently it’s possible for a driver to “cushion” for a number hours of “on duty/not driving”, and then legally drive another 5. Legal perhaps, but so is hugging a porcupine.

In ye olden days, we had a guy who would drive from Chicago to Denver, bypassing a relief driver waiting in Lincoln. We had to institute “Sandy’s rule”, where the relief driver got paid (and Sandy didn’t) for half the miles.

While driving a thousand miles non-stop is a bad idea, isn’t it fun to be part of an industry where most folks want to work so much that we have to hold them back?