One of the biggest hurdles we had to conquer was sleeping in a truck, whether that be in a moving truck or a truck sitting it takes time and determination. This morning when I got up and looked out the window all of our neighbors had left and I never heard a thing. Our truck is quiet and I think that helps a lot to not hear trucks start, generators start, reefers start, or backup alarms.
There are a few things that wake us up quickly and that is someone talking beside the truck, someone knocking on the door, and honking. Trucking is a twenty-four hour a day job and people are sleeping in their trucks day and night and it is really appreciated if people who want to have a conversation do so in front of their truck or in the restaurant. There are a couple of ways to wake me up mad and one is to beat on the side of our truck or the sleeper to get our attention. Sometimes people knock on the side of the truck to tell you they are ready to load or unload you, panhandlers, or someone wanting to polish your wheels. It is really appreciated when it is our turn to load or unload for a gentle knock on the door, there is no need to beat on a truck. Next is honking and that is a distress signal and usually it means a truck is about to get hit and that has everyone’s attention. Drivers watch when someone is backing up and they will honk if they are getting too close to another truck. Hard to sleep through a truck that is honking wondering if it is your truck about to get hit.
Going down the road in another matter and learning to sleep in a moving truck is not a habit usually learned very easily. This one was a total shock to us as we both could easily sleep in our personal vehicle when on road trips and the other person driving. There was one major flaw in our thinking… When we woke up and it was our turn to drive in our personal vehicle we did not need to drive a full shift. We took turns driving for a few hours at a time giving each other a break. Those first few years were very difficult, stressful, and finally as time wore on we learned to sleep while rocking back and forth and constantly moving. Bob and I created a video about sleeping in a moving vehicle talking about tips and ideas. Sleeping in the truck.
During the summer, we use our trusty fan to keep air circulating when the air conditioner is off and also for the back-ground noises. Might be my imagination but it always seems as if the truck stops are the noisiest in the summer. Of course, the ultimate restful night is almost always when we can sleep at the shipper that is in a nice quiet neighborhood, nothing moving around, and we can leave the windows open.
After basically being out here for the past seventeen years it is still with amazement when I get up and look out the windows and everyone that was beside us when we went to bed have left!