How To Deal With Insomnia When You Are A Truck Driver in New Zealand

As mentioned in the last article, sleep is extremely important to the health and safety of people, especially truck drivers who always need to be alert while driving. However, many truck drivers regularly suffer from insomnia – difficulty falling asleep – even on days when they don’t drive.

So what are the reasons?

First, truck drivers often drive at irregular times, such as midnight or early morning, so they regularly miss sleep. Over time this becomes a habit and can lead to insomnia.

Second, a long-distance drive on monotonous roads can cause extreme tiredness and fatigue, which also makes it hard to fall asleep when the body and mind are both worn out.

Third, stress is thought to be the main reason for insomnia of truck drivers these days. It can be caused by constant nervousness, worry or plain anxiety, which may lead not only to insomnia but also to more serious complications such as hypertension.

Finally, insomnia can also be caused by food. Caffeine, soft drinks, spicy foods, high-carb and sugary foods, high-protein foods, greasy foods and alcohol can all lead to insomnia. Truck drivers tend to drink a lot of coffee or energy drinks to stay alert while driving, and eat fast food instead of something healthier, without realising these are also causes of their insomnia.

Here are some tips for truck drivers to get rid of this issue:

• If you think your insomnia comes from stress, you should see a doctor to find the cause of that stress and deal with it.
• One of the most useful techniques is the 4-7-8 breathing exercise, which may help you fall asleep in a minute. It is very simple and can be done anywhere in 5 steps:

(1) Breathe out completely through your mouth, making a whoosh sound.
(2) Close your mouth and breathe in quietly through your nose to a mental count of four.
(3) Hold your breath for a count of seven.
(4) Breathe out completely through your mouth, making a whoosh sound to a count of eight.
(5) This is one breath. Now breathe in again and repeat the cycle three more times for a total of four breaths.

• Do not have heavy meals within 2 hours of going to sleep.
• Bring things that remind you of home, such as a pillow or blanket.
• Make sure your sleeping place is clean and quiet.
• Don’t drink too much coffee, soft drink, or alcohol. Eat less spicy, sugary and greasy food.

Take care of your sleep, drivers. Good luck!