Face it! After about 10-20 miles, long trips are boring! The sound of your tires humming on the road does not completely increase the music you are playing. Most of the surroundings on a long trips is the same, especially if you have ever driven a long trip – you have seen everything you can see. The “white noise” of the tires and nothing visually enticing to hold your attention, these two potentially dead combinations lead to road exhaustion, which is contribute to road fatigue.

Do you think: “No problem.”? “I will stop to get something to help me stay awake!”.  And, for sure, when you walk into your truck stop, you will find all kinds of energy and sugar products, they are expected to be the best way to stay awake while driving. But time and testing have shown that these quick fixes not only pose a threat to health, but also make you more tired than before the effect disappeared. You know what I’m talking about. All of us feel (try once at last) a big bag of M&M and tried to stay awake until it collapsed and burned when the sugar was too high.

So what would you do? You have completed the long distance mission-great! – And you know you will be tired. Some experienced truck drivers have some tired-and-tested methods to stay alert and end up driving thousand of miles. These tips help truck drivers stay awake, because apart from bad weather, driving when sleepy is the next best way to cause an accident.

Take a Nap

Before getting on the road, take a nap. Studies have shown that the body receives essential rest, even though you sleep for less than an hour, to help you stay awake into the night. When you also need them, pull over and take 20-minute power-naps while on the way. Don’t try to save time by battling the fatigue. You could end up hurting people and you.

Eat nutritious meal

After your pre-route sleep, eat nutritious meal. I know that, I know! It’s easy to grab the fast food when you reach the road, but the fat, salt and sugar make you tired. Complex carbohydrates and protein, which will give you long-lasting endurance, are energy food. Eat whole grains – 100 percent, not “whole grains” things – lean meats, fruit, vegetables… nice stuff!

Vitamins

Take vitamins. Certain vitamins (such as B and C) can provide you with energy. Just make sure to consume them with your healthy diet, otherwise your body will not be able to absorb them and you will not realize their full benefits.

Moves like Jagger

Move when you’re tired. Get out of your cab and stretch your legs. You’ve been sitting for a long time, and you need to move around and keep your blood flowing. This keeps your energy up. Heck! Heck! Keep the authorities satisfied at the same time by using a fast truck and a trailer inspection as an excuse to stop driving for a second. A walk around your rig is supposed to carry you up.

High Volume Music

If required, crank up the volume of your music. Music affects your mood, which in turn affects your level of fatigue. If you feel a little tired or even down, listen to some fun music you can sing along with. Who cares if you can’t put on a tune? Only you and your rig will hear from you!

Healthy snacks to keep yourself awake

Even if you eat a meal, continue to eat snacks. However, please make sure your snacks are healthy. Remember M&M? Of course, they taste better than a piece of fruit, but you don’t want to ride a roller coaster on a long journey. You can eat something healthy, such as a bag of almonds.

Audio Book

-Listen to an audio book! Holding your mind busy will help you stay up. You would like to pump your adrenaline to a creepy book, or the suspense is your gig. No matter what you like, once you are tired of singing, put in an audio book and listen to someone else’s voice for a while.

Make fun of you

Do things to yourself that are annoying. Okay, I know, you’re thinking, “Are you serious about that at all?”. I am, yes. Rub the roof of your mouth with your tongue, pinch your ear lobes or your arm or leg, tick or tickle yourself, whatever it takes to chase away your sleepiness. Of course, don’t hurt yourself. Do something really that’s going to irritate you out of your sleep.

Take a fresh breath

Open the window and let the oxygen flow through! Just like jumping into cold water, the cold air will temporary jolt and shock your sense of alertness. But please note that this only works temporarily, so you want to stop and rest at the next rest stop.

Hydration, hydration, HYDRATION

Keep your body hydrated and avoid caffeine. Likewise, I know you are thinking, “Are you serious?”. Yes, if you drink a lot of water, you must stop to pee every 10 seconds – I see. However, you cannot be dehydrated. Dehydration will cause fatigue immediately and will not increase the burden of coffee. Not only will the caffeine be reduced, but caffeine is also a diuretic, which will make you pee more than you should drink and increase dehydration.

Do not miss out: Drug and Alcohol Tests: What do you need to know about?

IN the end

There are just ten ways of staying awake while driving. There are many others, but always making sure you get the right winks is the perfect option, since you can’t substitute the need for real sleep. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has some fairly tight guidelines about how much you can drive in a day to prevent driver fatigue and accidents. Yeah, you know you can handle more, but please keep in mind that protection is worth a hell of a lot more than just challenging yourself for a good time. After all, if you get into an accident, you’re going to face losing the load you’ve been charged like that, but maybe anything worse than your license or your life. My friend of mine, keep it safe, and when you’re on a long-haul, stop exhaustion.