He was nearing the end of his shift and returning to the depot near East Midlands Airport on January 12. The coroner concluded that fatigue was the likely cause of the crash. It is believed that Middleton fell asleep at the wheel before he drove into the back of stationary traffic on the A50 in Derbyshire. He died at the scene from his injuries.
I know a lot of you guys on here have shifts that vary a lot.
For example I’ve had weeks in which one day I start at 14:00 then next day I am in a 23:30. Then it changes again.
I suspect some of you do some weeks working days then the next week your working nights.
But the funny thing is I know if I phoned in because I am tired I would not be taken seriously. It would be like I am taking the ■■■■.
I think this is because if you work in an office or a warehouse then it doesnt matter if you are tired. You just come in anyway. I remember when I worked in a warehouse somedays I’d go two days without sleep. It just did not matter.
Another thing the article said is 1 in 3 drivers fell asleep at the wheel. Which I think is nuts.
According to a survey by the European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETWF) in June, almost one in three lorry drivers said they had fallen asleep at the wheel in the last year. The survey found that 60 percent of HGV drivers said they had to drive while fatigued on a regular basis, while 52 percent reported wanting to pull over and take a break but being unable to do so.
So the question is. What would your boss say if you called in sick due to being tired?
I use to be agency driver on nights and if I didn’t sleep i use to phone
agency and tell them the truth. They were all right about it. Five minutes
after ringing in I was a sleep glad I don’t work nights anymore.
I never fell a sleep whilst driving. I have now been diagnosed
with sleep apnoea.
On the railway its called “fatigue” and is taken very seriously. Fatigue mangerment is built into the rostering. This includes max commute time to depot of 1 hour.
I wouldnt phone in sick(because im not sick) but I would report issue to my duty manager. If im to tired I dont driver a train, Very simple.
Personally I think some drivers especially on nights don’t help themselves.
Left a list of jobs to do by the mrs , pick the kids up from school , cut the grass
Blah blah blah,
Hoping they can get there head down whilst getting tipped at an roc or hub.
Happy Trucker1:
Personally I think some drivers especially on nights don’t help themselves.
Spot on, most people know how much sleep they need if they purposely cut it short to do other stuff instead of getting their much needed sleep they are no better than a drink/drug driver when behind the wheel.
No one should go to work if they know they are tired but they shouldn’t be having to make that decision in the first place.
This is why I have a problem (or would have if I worked for them) with these firms who ring their drivers up if they dare to stop during a trunk,.asking ‘‘Why have you stopped’’ .
Sometimes a 15 minute power nap makes all the difference, but according to some on here with the big gonads …‘‘You shouldn’t be doing the job if you need to stop for a kip’’
.
robroy:
This is why I have a problem (or would have if I worked for them) with these firms who ring their drivers up if they dare to stop during a trunk,.asking ‘‘Why have you stopped’’ .
Sometimes a 15 minute power nap makes all the difference, but according to some on here with the big gonads …‘‘You shouldn’t be doing the job if you need to stop for a kip’’
.
Yep.
It’s kinda funny at these delivery firms like tuffnells, ukmail, dx freight.
They all have those silly posters about tiredness kills. Yet you stop at a MSA for a ■■■■■ and a coffee and they will rip u one
Happy Trucker1:
Personally I think some drivers especially on nights don’t help themselves.
One of the best things about working nights is you can go to bed when you get in after your shift and just get up when you’re ready, no alarm clock required. Nothing worse than going to bed on a night with an alarm clock set to 4,5am or whatever and how much sleep you get being dictated by how long it takes you to go to sleep, still being awake after midnight knowing at best you’re only going to be getting 3,4hrs before the alarm clock goes. If it takes me longer to get off to sleep in a morning when I get home I just get up later. Can’t do that if you’re on days.
There’s more scope for switching start times and for long hours of combined driving and ‘other duties’ and POA thereby making use of reduced daily rest facility in the local distribution sector.
Than the long haul sector which will be more subject to driving time limits.Those are only 90 hours per fortnight and mainly 9 hours max per shift .
POA/Other duties and laughable shift patterns such as those lumbered by unions on tanker drivers are the elephants in the room.Not driving trucks around Europe for 90 hours max per fortnight.
robroy:
This is why I have a problem (or would have if I worked for them) with these firms who ring their drivers up if they dare to stop during a trunk,.asking ‘‘Why have you stopped’’ .
Sometimes a 15 minute power nap makes all the difference, but according to some on here with the big gonads …‘‘You shouldn’t be doing the job if you need to stop for a kip’’
.
I’ve never needed much sleep but when I do I take it and it’s a good way to learn about the people you work for and their attitudes. I’ve left at least two jobs because they moaned about rare times I needed a little longer or an extra break. I was lucky being subjected to this industry long before I was in it made me realise not to give up your health for any job as they won’t give a s*%t when you have to pick up the pieces of your life.
I’ve been lucky throughout my Driving Carrer, bosses always said if ya need a kip to stay safe do so, rather you late here, than early into next… Be interesting to see what happens with new owners.
Although drivers are clearly at their places of work when these often fatal accidents occur, they are not deemed workplace incidents and are investigated instead as road traffic accidents. All the issues that will have contributed to the accident—long driving hours, working conditions and other work-related factors—are air-brushed from any report.
If fatal accidents were investigated as a workplace incident things would change regarding hours.
Although saying that I’m guilty as charged regarding running bent admittedly 30 years ago but even so I was lucky many were not.
Neither am I glorifying doing so it was part of the job for me in the late 80s early 90s.
I’m at the stage now with transport, that even though I’m content with the job I do., I only do it because I have to.
I’ve lost a hell of a lot of interest in this job over the years, with minimal enthusiasm, so consequently I ain’t too keen in getting up in the morning to start anymore,…and as for bloody ridiculous early starts, they went out of the window years ago.
So what I do now is use the first 15 mins of my 45 for a kip in the morning after about 2 to 3 hours drive and 4 hours total duty time.
It makes all the difference, to my well being.
I would not have myself down as lazy, more like I’ve got my head screwed on…I refuse to drive tired.
Even if I’m late on some kind of timed delivery, I still stop for a power nap the world ain’t gonna end if the stuff ain’t there on the random time they have specified…and this is why I’d be no good working for the likes of DPD etc.
fingermissing:
I have now been diagnosed
with sleep apnoea.
and when you get your wee machine you wont half notice the difference.
I’ve got the bloody machine nippy 4 and the quicker I can get rid of it
the better. They are still not 100% sure Ive got sleep apnoea they still think
it might have been part of covid related.
After being diagnosed with sleep apnoea, I realised that I’d had it for years. I was given a machine by the hospital but soon splashed out on my own Fisher Paykel job. Never looked back.
Last job I was in, told the Boss that I leave Taunton at 05.00 Mon. See you Friday. If I feel tired, then I am stopping for a break/kip. Don’t like it? Then pay for recovery out of a ditch. OK ? Not a problem. Good Bossman
Time and again when parked up see drivers spending there break with there phones stuck to there hand on Facebook YouTube or what ever.
Surely this doesn’t help. Must give you eye strain plus. Forcing you to stay awake when deep down your.maybe tired.
