Driver Fatigue

[F4Gary]

Originally Posted by ClassAboater

I found that 3 hours was the most I wanted to drive our rig before I wanted to stop for the day. Then, I spent the cash and fixed the handling of our F53 chassis. I can drive it all day now with no issue and not get any more tired than driving our car. Before, I was constantly working the wheel to stay between the lines. Now I don't. I can drive our car 8-10 hours straight with a few rest area breaks and a stop for lunch. But, the motorhome was just too demanding to keep between the lines. With new shocks, rear track bar, Safe T plus steering stabilizer, and new bushing on the 10 year old sway bars, this rig is a pleasure to drive and I can go all day now being no more tired than driving our car.

I guess what I am saying is that if your rig is a handful keeping it between the lines, look into why that is so and your driving fatigue may go away with the fix. I found that this was the case for us.

I was going to mention this.


Make sure you are looking far down the road and not right in front of the coach to keep it between the lines.
Get an alignment and get your caster at least 5 degrees.
Install a steering centerer like a SafeTPlus.
Install a rear track bar.


I used to get worn out with our coach when I first got it.
Now I plan 300 miles a day +/- and can drive one handed.

[Rolling Ragu]

I just did 8k miles in 8 weeks. I was new to driving an A in the beginning, and by week 4-5 had a notable difference in how relaxed I was.

We had 8-10 days that we did 550-600 miles. Long days, but I could string 3 together without being crazy fatigued. My preference would be 300 miles, but we wouldn't get anywhere in our timeframe. In the future I'm using 400 miles as my planning distance. I can do 400 miles/day as many in a row as necessary.

I could drive a longer day with the truck and trailer, but needed more stops and went a little slower, thus I tend to do more miles a day in the A then the trailer.

[Fiesta48]

Try not getting fatigued when states like AZ have closed the rest areas. Many roads there is no place to pull over in a 40'+ car.
No shoulders, narrow 2 lanes, rough roads add to being tired. Pulling off on a Interstate exit may not work either or no place to make a U-turn.
Just drove 1400 miles in 5 days was exhausting. Hit every circumstance above.

[rarebear.nm]

Not directly related to the OP, but how many of you have seen that the Trump administration wants to relax the safety rules related to large commercial truck drivers' hours of wheel time per day.

https://www.latimes.com/business/sto...ive-time-rules

After these rules were put in place deaths related to semi collisions went down. So now we may have to be even more alert.

[RescueRamsey]

So briefly reading through this I see a lot of useful info, so without beating a dead horse, and repeating previous posts, I will ad my trick that I've not seen yet. Stretch. Yep, it's that simple. I am on the road all the time for work, sometimes 14-15 hrs. A day. When you start feeling drowsy pull over and stretch, bend over and touch your toes, pull your arms across your chest, you know, the crap you did in p.e. class as a kid. I know it's a little more difficult as you get older but I promise you it works. Get up, stretch, gets the blood moving again, take a lap around the coach, wakes me up. Try it.

[StevL]

Originally Posted by RescueRamsey

Stretch. Yep, it's that simple....When you start feeling drowsy pull over and stretch, bend over and touch your toes, pull your arms across your chest, you know, the crap you did in p.e. class as a kid. I know it's a little more difficult as you get older but I promise you it works. Get up, stretch, gets the blood moving again, take a lap around the coach, wakes me up. Try it.

+1

We stop about every two hours and walk the dog, do a little stretching, check the toad, etc. It helps me a lot, I also like to keep the days under 6 hours (4 to 5 is perfect). That doesn’t always happen but it sure nice to relax each day longer than we drive.

Steve

[Excesses]

Do you snore?

The reason I ask is, as a health professional, your fatigue may be a result of insufficient REM sleep. As a critical thinking Respiratory Professional, it is one possibility that is often overlooked.

There are plenty of tired drivers out there, and their impairment is as serious as a driver operating under the influence of whatever.

If this is not the case for you, I post this as a flag for others who are overweight, snore or find themselves drowsy or tired behind the wheel. There’s a solution that I, myself, use as a result of a thyroid cancer. It’s called CPAP.

Hope this is not the case for you, but thought I’d throw it out there.

Cheers

DJ

[pduggs]

Originally Posted by RescueRamsey

So briefly reading through this I see a lot of useful info, so without beating a dead horse, and repeating previous posts, I will ad my trick that I've not seen yet. Stretch. Yep, it's that simple. I am on the road all the time for work, sometimes 14-15 hrs. A day. When you start feeling drowsy pull over and stretch, bend over and touch your toes, pull your arms across your chest, you know, the crap you did in p.e. class as a kid. I know it's a little more difficult as you get older but I promise you it works. Get up, stretch, gets the blood moving again, take a lap around the coach, wakes me up. Try it.

Exactly. My wife doesn’t drive the mh. I find after two hours or so, I need to stop. I get out and walk around, use the rest area bathrooms, check the coach and toad. Maybe lay down on the couch and take a quick nap. Seems to refresh me every time.

[LandKPart2]

Originally Posted by pduggs

Exactly. My wife doesn’t drive the mh. I find after two hours or so, I need to stop. I get out and walk around, use the rest area bathrooms, check the coach and toad. Maybe lay down on the couch and take a quick nap. Seems to refresh me every time.

I'm going to start doing this. After all, there's no rush!

Les

[GNRVNG]

Originally Posted by l1v3fr33ord1

Les-

1) On days we know the drive will be worse, we shorten the planned distance/time.
2) We schedule 10-minute (minimum) rest stops every 60 to 90 minutes. We don't always take them, but they are in the plan.
3) My wife drives for at least an hour each day.
4) As far as signs of fatigue go. I find myself:
a) Shifting my hands on and off the steering wheel frequently (would be nice to have armrests that support my elbows, but they don't)
b) Shifting in the seat/slouching
c) Growing drowsy when not in traffic
d) Wandering (more than usual) in my lane
5) My wife has learned to interpret my body language and slight movements of the coach correctly, and will ask me if I am tired early in the progression. She's a gem in this regard!

Our metal box is only 31 feet long. I am glad we don't drive a longer one. It is definitely less fatiguing to drive without the toad.

The best guard against fatigue is not to schedule a long day's drive. Well, maybe second-best. The best is to get "real" sleep.

Excellent points all and concur, I too get fidgety, shift in seat I find pillow helps on back. Good breakfast helps, substantial not caffeine and toast.

[Charming]

Originally Posted by pduggs

Exactly. My wife doesn’t drive the mh. I find after two hours or so, I need to stop. I get out and walk around, use the rest area bathrooms, check the coach and toad. Maybe lay down on the couch and take a quick nap. Seems to refresh me every time.

I'm the navigator, camera, and passenger side watcher. DH has enough to deal with keeping the motorhome on the road and in the correct lane. He has AFib so we will drive about 3+ hours, stop for lunch. While I fix lunch he walks the dogs, goes to the restroom, etc. After lunch he will usually take about a 15 minute catnap. After that he is good to go for another 3+ hours.

He has learned to relax, I think he was in the constant tense mode when we bought the class A, trading in our C. We both drove the Class C, I really am not comfortable driving the A so I do all I can to help the driver.

On long trips to get from our starting point on the east coast we like to do several long days broken by 2 days of rest. That usually gets us to what we consider the start of our trip.

[twogypsies]

Anyone with a spouse that has medical issues or falling asleep issues needs to be confident in taking over the driving. I don't know why women balk at this. You can do it just as well as a man! Learn and then do it regularly. We switched drivers every time we moved to a new spot. That kept both of us at ease with driving and gave a chance for the other driver to enjoy the scenery. You never know when there will be a medical issue where the prime driver can't drive.

[pduggs]

Originally Posted by Charming

I'm the navigator, camera, and passenger side watcher. DH has enough to deal with keeping the motorhome on the road and in the correct lane. He has AFib so we will drive about 3+ hours, stop for lunch. While I fix lunch he walks the dogs, goes to the restroom, etc. After lunch he will usually take about a 15 minute catnap. After that he is good to go for another 3+ hours.

He has learned to relax, I think he was in the constant tense mode when we bought the class A, trading in our C. We both drove the Class C, I really am not comfortable driving the A so I do all I can to help the driver.

On long trips to get from our starting point on the east coast we like to do several long days broken by 2 days of rest. That usually gets us to what we consider the start of our trip.

Now that we are both retired and full time, we don’t rush anything. The days of driving 1500 miles a day, a long gone.

To prepare myself for driving a large motorhome, I went through school bus training and drove a bus for a short time. This prepared me well and I have never found driving 44’ DP intimidating.

[Charming]

Originally Posted by twogypsies

Anyone with a spouse that has medical issues or falling asleep issues needs to be confident in taking over the driving. I don't know why women balk at this. You can do it just as well as a man! Learn and then do it regularly. We switched drivers every time we moved to a new spot. That kept both of us at ease with driving and gave a chance for the other driver to enjoy the scenery. You never know when there will be a medical issue where the prime driver can't drive.

I can drive it and if I have to I will. On one trip back when we owned the Class C The Driver injured his leg and I had to drive all the way from Cordele, GA to Myrtle Beach. The drive included a blowout on I-16. The current distribution of duties works for us, plus the Driver is a terrible navigator