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@Bret I have a couple of Knudsen Blueberry juice glass bottles. There is another brand that is organic, unsweetened, and non-concentrate. I'll have to get back to you on the organic one. There are places like Sprouts, Whole foods, and I think some trader Joe's that carry them.

I do enjoy eating gamey meat from goat to bison. I do usually get grass fed ribeye steak though, which is nicely marbled. I notice that I feel more satiated.

I forgot to mention the canned Amy's soups. To me, I think they are pretty good. I don't like high sodium gravy-like soup. The Amy's soup tastes more akin to something made at home. A big plus is that the cans are BPA free

How long has it taken you to drive 500 miles? Or how far do you usually go in 10 hours on those roads?

Formulas work great, but you have been running those roads so you have the answer. You know what you normally do in a shift in that area. You also know how you are "driving" your shift. Are you taking an hour break vs 30 min? Are playing travel center leap frog etc.

Take your miles divide by the hours you ran and that will give you an accurate number to use based on the way you run.

The Memorial Highway/route that I have been routed on several times has a 45 MPH speed limit and for short sets of 5 miles goes back up to 50MPH. It then goes through several towns and drops down to 25 MPH (if I remember correctly). I am getting stacked with short runs. Now, if I speed, which I refuse to do, then yeah 50MPH will work. I have to double check what highway. I am not familiar yet with the area. It is 40 something or other and a one lane I'm both directions. Thanks for the replies btw. I appreciate your time.

All of my time has been spent driving, scaling, pretrip, postrip, fueling. I have not once taken a break over 30 min. In fact, I don't have much time at all to even smell the proverbial flowers. I'm replying as I am waiting for guard to inspect my seal. Will answer rest later

Got a load out of there far far away :D Issue resolved

I have lost 20 lbs of pudge by living off of kind bars, yogurt, blueberry juice, walnuts, grass fed/free range meat (cooked on grill). I don't eat/drink anything with citric acid or preservatives. I get fresh veggies from stores nearby and have a foldable electric bike I use to get a mile or two to that location if one is nearby otherwise I go to Walmart. I've been stuck in this one area running hard. Finally, got a load out of there today. I also do jumping jacks, pushups, use 50 lb resistance band for weight exercises. I also do a quick set of curls on the way to bathroom at Walmarts because the dumbbells are on the way LOL. Oh, stay hydrated, wear sunscreen, wear a hat in sun, invest in legit sunglasses, and avoid negative people.

How long has it taken you to drive 500 miles? Or how far do you usually go in 10 hours on those roads?

Formulas work great, but you have been running those roads so you have the answer. You know what you normally do in a shift in that area. You also know how you are "driving" your shift. Are you taking an hour break vs 30 min? Are playing travel center leap frog etc.

Take your miles divide by the hours you ran and that will give you an accurate number to use based on the way you run.

The Memorial Highway/route that I have been routed on several times has a 45 MPH speed limit and for short sets of 5 miles goes back up to 50MPH. It then goes through several towns and drops down to 25 MPH (if I remember correctly). I am getting stacked with short runs. Now, if I speed, which I refuse to do, then yeah 50MPH will work. I have to double check what highway. I am not familiar yet with the area. It is 40 something or other and a one lane I'm both directions. Thanks for the replies btw. I appreciate your time.

All of my time has been spent driving, scaling, pretrip, postrip, fueling. I have not once taken a break over 30 min. In fact, I don't have much time at all to even smell the proverbial flowers. I'm replying as I am waiting for guard to inspect my seal. Will answer rest later

The Memorial Highway/route that I have been routed on several times has a 45 MPH speed limit and for short sets of 5 miles goes back up to 50MPH. It then goes through several towns and drops down to 25 MPH (if I remember correctly). I am getting stacked with short runs. Now, if I speed, which I refuse to do, then yeah 50MPH will work. I have to double check what highway. I am not familiar yet with the area. It is 40 something or other and a one lane I'm both directions. Thanks for the replies btw. I appreciate your time.

I have been getting loads under 500 miles, so I don't have other miles to even out delays or Backcountry roads

I am a company OTR driver and I am stuck in the Indiana-Ohio-Illinois area. I say stuck because I am from the West Coast and my loads have lead me to out here for the past two weeks. I was told by mentors and at trucking school to just divide my miles by 50MPH to approximate my times. This doesn't work for the area I am in because there are long stretches of 45MPH or below and toll booths that require you to go through a kiosk lane even with an EZPass. Does anyone know where I can get legit speed limit info for this area? I want to plan accordingly. Also, how do OTR drivers make money out this way because the reduction in the speed limits lowers daily driveable miles.

Thanks

Jm, one of my fears when starting this career was that I wouldn't get enough sleep, and/or that not getting sleep in a regular pattern would really bother me.

At first (during training) it really did get to me at times. My trainer woke me up sometimes so I could see something I needed to see or do. Not often, but more than I liked.

And he ran hard. We rarely had a chance to catch our breath during the ten weeks when I was on his truck, and when we did get a weekend off, he wanted me to join in with him and his wife going to movies or shopping or whatever. I just wanted to veg out. He finally figured that out after I told him as much a half dozen times, but it was exhausting.

And then on top of it, he talked a lot and told me personal stuff I really didn't want to know. We are complete opposites on the privacy axis and the introvert/extrovert axis.

I still talk to him pretty regularly over two years later, though. He was the best trainer ever, and he's really likeable. But he drove me nuts during training sometimes.

Try to get through this. 100 hours is what, maybe two more weeks, or a little more? As the others said, it all changes for the better once you get your own truck. This is just the bit you have to get through to get there. Once it's done, you'll rarely think of it unless prompted by a conversation like this.

I want to thank you for sharing your experience. I really appreciate the suggestions and tips from everyone.

What are the boundaries then? At what point is his trainer waking him up too much?

I don't know. Maybe you should ask a fireman, or a mom with a newborn, or a police officer, or anyone in the military, or anyone in the medical profession, or any business owners, or anyone with higher level managerial duties, or any of the members of a very large group of people all over the world who simply can not hang a "do not disturb" sign on their life anytime they feel like it and expect the world to shut up and leave them alone.

There are jobs for average people who can only tolerate average circumstances, and there are jobs for extraordinary people who are both willing and capable of being at their best even under extraordinary circumstances. You have to find a job that suits you, one you're capable of handling, one you can excel at.

If a person never wants to be woken up when they're asleep then in my opinion they're simply too fragile for this line of work. They either have to figure out how to step up their game and do what it takes to thrive in this industry or find a job that asks far less of them. That's the approach I take. I don't pretend just anyone can come along and do this, and I don't let anyone kid themselves either.

I see what you are saying. I use to be an Emergency Medical Technician doing nights back when I was younger. I have seen some really horrific things from mangled people and missing faces. I loved that job, but I couldn't deal with lifting 350+ lb people anymore because it was literally backbreaking. I saw newbies leave the profession after witnessing their first death. That was a really tough job and we were on call. I just need my 6 hours of undisturbed sleep. It is basically the only reason I did not go into medical school. I was upfront with myself about how I am just one of those people who can't fully functional without sleep. I have tried to change/work with my sleep patterns, but I suppose it is in my genes. I did speak with my driver leader and he said I shouldn't have a problem with having time to sleep as long as I manage my time wisely. He did mention there will be days, and I am cool with that. However, I am not cool with day-after-day sleep deprivation.

I did go back and read a prior reply. I meant to say "No, I am definitely NOT anti-social..."

I don't know about the "don't wake me during sleeper berth time" thing. You're in training. If your trainer comes upon a situation that you need to be a part of, like dealing with a customer or getting repairs done or something, you have to be present and ready to learn. There's no such thing as a "do not disturb" sign in trucking.

See, this is the difference between having a regular job like at a warehouse, versus a lifestyle job like trucking, and it's something we try to help people understand. You're not working a 9 to 5 job. You don't get to punch out at the end of a shift and forget about your job until the next shift. You're always responsible for that truck, you're always responsible for the freight you're carrying, and for communicating with dispatch, and all kinds of stuff. You don't get to punch out and check out. Your responsibilities never end, regardless of what your logbook says you're doing.

So I would drop that request, but the others are reasonable.

Well, I guess I'll have to hang up my boots then. I am one of those people who can't go back to sleep when awoken. I only sleep 6 hours. I'll let my Driver Leader know. Thanks and it has been nice being apart of the forums.