It Was The Best Of Times; It Was The Worst...

Hello all,

I'm still out here taking in everything that I possibly can and avoiding causing damage to life, limb and property. I have also learned something very important about myself; the absolute worst time for me to drive is the hour right before sunrise.

It doesn't matter how long I slept, or what stage of my shift that hour falls, I always get eye fluttering, neck jerking tired just before the first dim light begins to appear from the east. I have found solutions to get through it, but I have to assume that this is a fairly common issue (my trainer, Satan, complains of the exact same thing), but for me, that is definitely the worst of times.

It is, however, followed closely by the best of times; like this morning. Heading north on I-15 from Vegas to Salt Lake City at the Utah 150 mile marker. Wide open space on my left stretching out to distant mountains, just the right shade of pale dusty purple. To my right, the mountains run along the entire length of my vision as the land rushes up to meet them.

Just then, the sun lifts above and between the peaks and in that first 10 minutes of sunrise, nobody. No. Body. Has a better job than I do.

Of course, shortly after that I can't see a damn thing because the sun is to low for my visor to block and to high for the landscape to help with, but those first 10 minutes... Yup, still worth it.

Be safe everyone and have an amazing day!

Hello all,

I'm still out here taking in everything that I possibly can and avoiding causing damage to life, limb and property. I have also learned something very important about myself; the absolute worst time for me to drive is the hour right before sunrise.

It doesn't matter how long I slept, or what stage of my shift that hour falls, I always get eye fluttering, neck jerking tired just before the first dim light begins to appear from the east. I have found solutions to get through it, but I have to assume that this is a fairly common issue (my trainer, Satan, complains of the exact same thing), but for me, that is definitely the worst of times.

It is, however, followed closely by the best of times; like this morning. Heading north on I-15 from Vegas to Salt Lake City at the Utah 150 mile marker. Wide open space on my left stretching out to distant mountains, just the right shade of pale dusty purple. To my right, the mountains run along the entire length of my vision as the land rushes up to meet them.

Just then, the sun lifts above and between the peaks and in that first 10 minutes of sunrise, nobody. No. Body. Has a better job than I do.

Of course, shortly after that I can't see a damn thing because the sun is to low for my visor to block and to high for the landscape to help with, but those first 10 minutes... Yup, still worth it.

Be safe everyone and have an amazing day!

I think we can all relate and have our time of day when all the sleep in the world won't help. For me, I could get a good solid 8 hours sleep, but if I start driving before midnight, I'm wiped out in less than 2 hours and have to take a nap, however, If I can start driving at about 1:30, I can go all night and just start getting tired at sunrise.... then when the sun is up, I get my 2nd wind and I could stay up most of the day if I don't force myself to lay down and get some rest.

As far as scenery? One that I never get tired of is going through the Mojave on a clear night and looking at the stars then coming into Albuquerque from the west at night. When you're just breaking over the ridge and BAM! You see the entire city all lit up at once in the valley as you drive into town. The lights seem even more brilliant after driving several hours through the dark desert.

Oh man......same with me. Right as the sun was getting ready to come up my eyes would start crossing. And it had nothing to do with how much sleep I had or what time I started driving. Somehow when the sun came up my eyelids wanted to go down. Normally I started driving really early like 2:00-3:00 a.m. so by the time the sun wanted to come up it was usually time for a coffee refill anyhow so I'd stop quick and go inside for a fillup. No biggie.

But it felt like I was being put in a trance when that would happen. It was hard to shake.

Oh man......same with me. Right as the sun was getting ready to come up my eyes would start crossing. And it had nothing to do with how much sleep I had or what time I started driving. Somehow when the sun came up my eyelids wanted to go down. Normally I started driving really early like 2:00-3:00 a.m. so by the time the sun wanted to come up it was usually time for a coffee refill anyhow so I'd stop quick and go inside for a fillup. No biggie.

But it felt like I was being put in a trance when that would happen. It was hard to shake.

That happened to me on a trip to California (personal vehicle), when I was passing through Phoenix, Arizona. Real bad time to happen.

It happens to me too. I start out roughly around 530-6 just before sunrise and after about an hr when the sun starts coming out I feel like Id been driving for 10hrs and need my 10hr break. Ive actually stopped and took a 30 min nap just to get back to "fresh" state....

Outside of the brief time that I covered a day schedule, I run primarily nights as a linehaul driver. Most of the drivers talk about getting the sleepies just before dawn. And you're right, doesn't matter how much sleep you got the day before. There's been times that I'm in such a rhythm with my day sleep schedule and rocking out the night driving, that out of nowhere in the middle / later part of my week I'll get hit with those dreaded sleepies. Then I'll go for a stretch where every night is a struggle, then a stretch of feeling like I was made for night shift. It's random and the only cure is to rest the eyes or sleep. Powering through it can work, but can also be dangerous. Once that sun comes up though, it's like a second wind comes rushing in. I plan ahead for those drowsy times by timing my caffeine intake, making sure not to drink too much to where I can't fall asleep later in the day.

We're diurnal beings. No changing that.

Without the worst of times, one could not possibly appreciate the best of times.

I think we've all experienced it. I'm not one to drive at night unless I have to. I always try to sleep from 11:00pm to 5:00am at a minimum, and get an hour or two on the ends of that period for a total of 8 hours. Having worked shift work for years in the Navy, I know your body just doesn't like being awake in the middle of the night.

For me, I try to get up by 5am, roll by 6am and be parked for the night by 6pm at the latest. I shift that a bit when out east to try to hit a stopping point by 4pm because they fill rapidly. It's worked well for me.

Tracy

Do yall think it may be because when you see the sun creeping up your body /brain registers that you shift is almost up so it involuntarily starts winding down? Just a thought

Do yall think it may be because when you see the sun creeping up your body /brain registers that you shift is almost up so it involuntarily starts winding down? Just a thought

I think it is a combination of a lot of things. Circadian rhythms are what they are. Your body KNOWS roughly what time it is and would really like to know why you haven't taken your dumb a$$ to bed yet.

Add to that the glimmer of light you see as you are already getting drowsy and you have the perfect recipe for the gawd awful feeling you get when your head jerks up and you realize that was almost really bad.

Thankfully, this happens less and less as I learn to grab sleep at any possible opportunity and I know to start getting crunchy snacks (baby carrot's and jolly ranchers are my favorite "mouth busy makers") ready and really focus on what I'm doing until the sun comes up and "resets" my body clock.

It's an odd life, but so far, a satisfying one.