This will be interesting if it proves correct
Last time i did a CPC session the trainer asked everybody how much sleep they get on average the answers were quite shocking. Seems the average driver thinks it’s ok to drive on 4 or 5 hours 
They might have to rethink the drivers hours for this one. 
I’d argue that the average driver knows full well that 5 or 6 hours sleep isn’t adequate, but are forced into it by the ridiculous regulations that permit this.
Your average office worker has around sixteen hours off between shifts whereas it’s legally acceptable for a driver to have as little as nine hours (we all know this) but that disparity is I imagine a factor in a lot of mishaps.
Sleep…
Is such a personal thing. Some people only need 4 to 5 hours and they good to go again. Some people can’t get by on less than 9 hours, given the chance they’ll sleep standing up in the queue at Greggs.
The hypocrisy lies in the signs themselves which recommend taking a break every two hours. They omit the caveat ‘unless you’re an HGV driver in which case crack on for another two and a half’.
Yep, there were a few stories about this test in 2018.
yourhavingalarf:
Sleep…Is such a personal thing. Some people only need 4 to 5 hours and they good to go again. Some people can’t get by on less than 9 hours, given the chance they’ll sleep standing up in the queue at Greggs.
The hypocrisy lies in the signs themselves which recommend taking a break every two hours. They omit the caveat ‘unless you’re an HGV driver in which case crack on for another two and a half’.
You are right, but it will be a one size fits all rule as usual…kerching.
It’s a bit like drink driving, in REALITY some people would be ok driving after 4 or 5 pints…(just to protect me from the self righteous who will be getting all outraged and hissy whilst getting official stats ready to post , can I just stress a couple of points, I don’t drink and drive, and I don’t condone it, this is just how it is whether you and/or the law agree or not 
) where as others would be totally incapable after 2 drinks,.everyone is different.
Exactly like sleep, some NEED 8 hours,.some manage very well with a couple less.
But can I just congratulate the powers that be in scraping, I mean finding another weapon in their arsenal to do us over.
Whilst no doubt adding the obligatory positive spin telling us it is to protect us. 
Think all that will do is prove a lot of drivers driving around with sleep apnoea who don’t know they have it.
How many of those drivers that think they are perfectly ok on 5hrs kip will routinely have a sleep in the afternoon to make up for it?
This will be a huge can of worms for this industry, it’s quite scary the way the average driver lives really when you think about it…
They will really have to change so much about this industry if they start enforcing this.
drover:
How many of those drivers that think they are perfectly ok on 5hrs kip will routinely have a sleep in the afternoon to make up for it?
This will be a huge can of worms for this industry, it’s quite scary the way the average driver lives really when you think about it…They will really have to change so much about this industry if they start enforcing this.
It won’t happen mate.
It’s like H&S , they try and make out it is sooooo important, almost paramount…if that WAS the case, the hours rules would be changed,.starting with 15 on/9 off 3x a week.
robroy:
drover:
How many of those drivers that think they are perfectly ok on 5hrs kip will routinely have a sleep in the afternoon to make up for it?
This will be a huge can of worms for this industry, it’s quite scary the way the average driver lives really when you think about it…They will really have to change so much about this industry if they start enforcing this.
It won’t happen mate.
It’s like H&S , they try and make out it is sooooo important, almost paramount…if that WAS the case, the hours rules would be changed,.starting with 15 on/9 off 3x a week.
Yep when you get a certain London tipper firm owner asking for a relaxation in drivers hours because her drivers can’t do enough work due to London traffic
All about money not drivers welfare
I work nights.On my first night on.How can I sleep 8 hours before I go on duty?I couldnt even if I tried.So I get up very early and I manage to sleep a few hours before I start and then I sleep in my break.This works for me,but if they bring this test in,I would fail it because I havent had 8 hours sleep.I always carry a few cans of costa coffee,I found that if I drink a couple of them,I will not be tired.I dont have a problem with fatigue because that few hours gets me through the first part of the shift until I have an hour or more of sleep to get me through the rest of the shift.Its not perfect but I cant see any other way they can expect night workers to operate
If they changed the driving hours etc. So every driver had more time off between shifts enabling them to sleep more before next days shift would be pointless
As most would just spend more time with there family/kids .and stay up late anyway watching football etc.
Personally I can go bed at about 10 be up at 4 starting work at 5 and go all day with out feeling tired. Granted only work untill 3 though and with out the need for energy drinks or
coffee etc.
Yet others drinks cans off the stuff to stay awake. And reckon there in bed about same time
Sleep is a personal thing. One person can live perfectly well with six hours sleep a day, when another needs nine hours.
I used to have a job that consisted of twenty-four hours driving (2,000km), four and a half hours loading and two hours unloading. That’s thirty and a half hours for the round trip, excluding breaks. There was more work than I could handle and l was backed up with subbies. I had no contact with my boss whilst away from the terminal, l was under no pressure and allowed to run my own race.
I settled into a routine of starting at 600 hrs, +/- an hour, working until 1400 hours (ish), head down until 16~1800 hours then work until midnight, the only fairly rigid time in my day. I fell comfortably into this routine and never set an alarm. I occasionally grabbed an extra nanny nap, as required. I was working 16~18 hours a day, seven days a week and not fatigued. Of course, this was bending the rules somewhat, but with a bit of creative accounting and paper logbooks, it always looked legit. The lack of pressure and knowing I could take time off at will, made the job easy and stress free, I believe alleviating fatigue.
If I do an overnight expess to Sydney (1,000 km), I’m more fatigued than l ever was in the aforementioned role
One size fits all strikes again, have the powers that be watched too many episodes of Dr Who and wish to mould the pesky pleb population into the Borg.
Juddian:
One size fits all strikes again, have the powers that be watched too many episodes of Dr Who and wish to mould the pesky pleb population into the Borg.
I think that ship has already sailed mate…especially in this industry.
Have you read some of the posts and opinions from a certain few on this forum on some topics ?
Sploom:
I work nights.On my first night on.How can I sleep 8 hours before I go on duty?I couldnt even if I tried.So I get up very early and I manage to sleep a few hours before I start and then I sleep in my break.This works for me,but if they bring this test in,I would fail it because I havent had 8 hours sleep.I always carry a few cans of costa coffee,I found that if I drink a couple of them,I will not be tired.I dont have a problem with fatigue because that few hours gets me through the first part of the shift until I have an hour or more of sleep to get me through the rest of the shift.Its not perfect but I cant see any other way they can expect night workers to operate
Yeah first one is always difficult. The blow for me is softened somewhat because I’m often having a few hours kip in the middle of my shift which takes the edge off and once I’m through the first shift the rest fall into a routine until the end of the week.
Wouldn’t suprise me, if this ever becomes law, the haulage industry won’t be affected, it will be quietly given a special dispensation to continue with the ludicrous long hours culture.
drover:
This will be interesting if it proves correct
Blood test for sleepy drivers could pave way for prosecutions | Medical research | The Guardian
Last time i did a CPC session the trainer asked everybody how much sleep they get on average the answers were quite shocking. Seems the average driver thinks it’s ok to drive on 4 or 5 hoursThey might have to rethink the drivers hours for this one.
I do nights; 4-5 hours is pretty much the norm. Very rarely 6 hours, perhaps once a week usually after the 1st night start of the week, 7 hours happens maybe once a month. On my off nights I’ve no problem sleeping all night (8-9 hours) it’s the day time sleep that I find impossible and speaking to fellow drivers it’s fairly common.
Even when I quit smoking and only had 1 small coffee once every 24 hours (after waking up in the afternoon) still made no difference, 5-6 hours tops.
One other thing on nights I make sure to get at least 50 mins to an hour of sleep on my break
Also I don’t believe that ‘‘evidence suggests that driving on less than five hours’ sleep is as dangerous as being over the legal drink-drive limit in many countries.’’ I mean there’s a long way between ‘‘evidence suggests’’ and ‘‘the science is settled’’ 
Make night work illegal instead or legislate double/triple pay rate over day work I’d have no issue with that
From that Guardian article
Anderson’s team has identified five biomarkers in blood that can detect whether somebody has been awake for 24 hours or more with greater than 99% accuracy.
You can be a fatigued driver without being awake for “24 hours or more”, and, even in my younger days being a perpetual night owl and playing in a rock band, I never met anyone who could go 24 hours without sleep.
So whilst their scieintific research might be of interest in a “pure science” way, it isn’t something that is going to make any impact on the industry.
Juddian:
One size fits all strikes again, have the powers that be watched too many episodes of Dr Who and wish to mould the pesky pleb population into the Borg.
The Borg were never on Dr Who!!!
fingermissing:
Think all that will do is prove a lot of drivers driving around with sleep apnoea who don’t know they have it.
And of course thoe who have to get up every two hours to have a pee due to prostate problems.
Lets face it it is all about driverless trucks ha ha.
When they come in who are the planners/traffic office going to blame then?