bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-33638905
It’s not just the harm we’re doing to ourselves - in some jobs we put others at risk.
I spoke to someone who spends his nights as a cleaner. Instead of sleeping when he gets home, he says that, after a shower, he goes on to another job driving big trucks around the country. He does that six days a week, on only three hours sleep.
Really…?! 
I know someone that drives an artic on daytime trunks doing 55 to 60 hour week, then drives a sprinter van of an evening doing collections, about another 20 hours week. At weekends they deliver food for their local takeaway. That’s why the WTD is such a joke.
In my last job, virtually all the HGV’s were tacho exempt due to what they carried. Needless to say the WTD was never even considered in that role. If fact some of the drivers didn’t even know what it was.
Some people can get by just fine on very few hrs sleep
alix776:
Some people can get by just fine on very few hrs sleep
Well, yes, some people can ‘get by’, but we’re talking about operating large pieces of equipment, at speed, in the mix of other road users .
But, the physical risks aside, this is just madness.
alix776:
Some people can get by just fine on very few hrs sleep
No they can’t, it will catch up to them. You can only go for so long on such little sleep.
Depends on body clock in fine usually on 3-6 hrs sleep
el_presidente:
alix776:
Some people can get by just fine on very few hrs sleepWell, yes, some people can ‘get by’, but we’re talking about operating large pieces of equipment, at speed, in the mix of other road users .
But, the physical risks aside, this is just madness.
Is it any different to hauliers having stupid start times of 1am, 2am etc screwing up drivers body clocks, or the driver nighting out that has a poor night’s sleep due to having to park on laybys next to busy roads, or background noise from factories (or fridge motors) keeping them awake half the night?
When I worked nights for a while (not driving), I was getting just 15 hours sleep between Monday morning and Friday morning, as just couldn’t sleep in the daytime. Was travelling home on the M6 every morning with both front windows dropped down to keep me awake. Not ideal but sometimes you have to do what you have to do. 
Try doing couier work even less earnings and double the hrs of hgv
alix776:
Try doing couier work even less earnings and double the hrs of hgv
Well, maybe we need to be better controlling the hours of other drivers too…but, that would be a … can o’ worms eh?
Put simply, where the safety of others is involved, and where the risk can be controlled to a degree, then maybe it really does need to be controlled. In the haulage industry we regulate how many hours people should rest and work for, for good reason. Cut down the margins of safety, make them too thin, people get hurt.
Opps missed this thread, just started a similar one with R4 iplayer link, so in case that thread is deleted, here the R4 radio program iplayer link on this-
Wifey after 2 and a half years on nights went to use a lift one shift and couldn’t remember/work out how to use it. Found a day-job, sorted.