Welcome to Live Dialogue !!!

BEDDING ... what to take with you...
Question:
Your truck will have a built-in mattress -- probably used -- and you need to sleep on it a few hours everyday.
Your trainer's truck will have two beds, and you'll need to switch back and forth depending on who's driving, so no one's in the top bunk when the truck's moving.
Take one sleeping bag with you in training. Make it a light one made for warmer temperatures, since you're usually sleeping in normal room temperature inside the cab. The lighter, thinner bags are also easier to machine wash on the road. I'd recommend the 'Coleman' bags sold at Wal-Mart, for example. They're less than $30 and a long-term investment you can use as you move into your own truck. Make sure they're machine washable. Do NOT take a -30 degree down-filled bag you have in the attic to orientation and training! Spend the $30 and get a brand new, clean, modern, light weight sleeping bag.
When you get your own truck, you'll probably want to buy a second bag. I have three. I sleep in each about 6 nights before exchanging it for a clean one. This lasts my three weeks out, and then I wash all three at a laundromat every time I go home.
You'll also want a small pillow and a couple pillow cases. The pillow cases take almost no room, but make your first pillow a tiny little one you can stuff in a duffle bag.
Travel light with just the tools and supplies you need to get through training. Space and convenience are at a premium when you're hauling this stuff around from van to motel to truck to van to motel to truck to van..... When you get your own truck you can carry more "nice to have" stuff, like full-sized pillows, multiple sleeping bags, more clothes, etc....

Answer:
You forgot jammies and a teddy bear........

Answer:
You have to wonder about the quality of human beings that Shuffler has been recruiting for Werner when you have to tell them how to operate bedding.
Of course, I almost ran into one (literally) yesterday who didn't know what the shiny things (aka mirrors) on the side of his truck were for.

Answer:
I thought based on the paperless log system that you slept exactly 10 hours each day, not just a "few hours"[ And as far as I know, for it to be a legal sleeper berth, it has to be properly made up, not just a sleeping bag. That's always been a potential hit on an inspection if the bunk wasn't made properly. Always seemed nit picky to me, but it's their ball and game..

Answer:

...and where in the regs do you find that?

Answer:
Burky,
I've never heard of a DOT inspection to see if your bed's made -- although it sounds like a good idea...
The HOS regulations say nothing about "sleeping" per se. Your truck must have a "sleeper berth" to log sleeper berth breaks, and you must log the required time "in the sleeper berth" to qualify a break. We all log the required break and usually spend most of it sleeping -- I'm about 7-8 hours a night, others are more or less depending on their personal sleep needs. We also read, write, watch tv and other things while logged "in the sleeper".
The requirement to log sleeper while on the road is that it removes you from proximity to the truck's controls (you must be behind the front seats) and therefore unable to engage in any substancial "work".
SWame thing for line-1. You must be out of the truck and not engaged in any work related activities. Logging line-1 when you're in the sleeper is falsification. You log your off-duty according to your location -- either in the sleeper berth or off and away from the truck. (time behind the wheel must be logged line-3 or line-4, even when the truck's parked ) It's all about location, but how much actual rest you get off-duty or in the sleeper is virtually re-regulatable. So far we don't have cameras to record if we're actually "sleeping" in the sleeper berth, and enforement can only assume we have the good sense to use some of it to sleep.... The driver can sleep in plastic garbage bags if that suits them -- and some probably do....

Answer:
I think he's talking about the CB stories he has heard in the back row.
Actually the lawsuit brought on by the OOIDA against the Tennessee Public Service Commission a few years back.
The Tennessee DOT inspectors were doing some real funny sh$t on the DOT inspections . One was bedding and friggin white sheets. The State of Connecticut DOT pulled this same crap about white sheets. No, it's not in the REG's but they were doing it anyway. They were nothing more than DOT renegades out of control.
OOIDA won the lawsuit against TPSC and it's "f" ed up leader. (I forget his name, it began with a 'B')

Answer:
I took a sleeping bag, sheet, blanket and a regular size pillow when I trained. It didn't seem to bother anyone and was never in the way. Sleeping comfortably is alot more important than trying to save a few inches of room.

Answer:
Actually, I remember it from when I lived in Tenn, so if it isn't in the rules I am mistaken. I remember it being a big issue down there, and just assumed that they were enforcing some small ridiculuos part of the applicable vehicle codes.
And I have been making the bed up so nicely all this time for nothing.....

Answer:
You guys use sleeping bags? Wow, Dwelling is like camping. But different.
I use a fitted mattress pad, a fitted sheet a comforter and two pillows with pillow cases. Much more comfortable than sleeping in a bag. As a matter of fact it is almost as comfortable as home, except the urine smell in the morning when you get out of the truck at the dweller stop.

Answer:

More evidence of my contention that alot of truckdrivers drive a truck for a living because they are too stupid to do anything else...except that it seems there are some who are too stupid even for this biz.
Answer:
I can understand the 'bag' while in training.
I always preffered 'real' bedding for sleeping.
Answer:
I prefer the sleeping bags -- but mine are extra-long "doubles" that cover the entire mattress, not the "coffin" style that barely fit your body like some backpackers use. The larger bags are very spacious and comfortable - the equivalent of a fully made bed without having to "make the bed" everyday. My two oldest sleepng bags have cotton liners that are flannel-smooth from age and more comfortable than any bedding I'd use at home or in a motel -- but then, I like to sleep in the cold and have plenty of fluffy stuff around me, so a thin sheet and blanket has never been something I much liked.
The point was -- newbies need to show-up for orientation/training with something practical and effecient. A light-weight, brand-new sleeping bag is worth the few bucks, and can be unzipped and used as an extra blanket or comforter on the more traditional bedding one might use once they get their own truck.
I had students show-up with arm-fulls of crap they didn't need, including heavy, dirty old sleeping bags or grimy old blankets....when a single, lightweight and cheap sleeping bag would have been much better. They can do whatever they want when they get their own truck, but most trainers prefer their stuents travel light and not introduce questionable old bedding -- and all the mites and who knows what else that comes with it -- into their truck. Spend the $30 bucks and get the right "sleeping tool" for training.

Answer:
Oh, sorry shuffler, I never went through the"training" phase with any company, so I'm a little behind on the techniques.

Answer:
Part Time Dweller:
You're not the only one confused about what to take. The post was intended for those who will be trained on the job by living with another driver for a few weeks in his/her truck. That's what a lot of newbies here on the newbie forum are going to do, and many ask things like "what should I take with me?"




This site does not provide medical or any other health care or fitness advice, diagnosis, or treatment. The site and its services, including the information above, are for informational purposes only and are not a substitute for professional medical or health advice, examination, diagnosis, or treatment.
Copyright ? 2006 - 2007 www.thankhealth.com Privacy Policy
All Dialogue