The struggle for parking spaces

Truck drivers are confronted daily with insufficient truck parking spaces. There is currently only one parking space for every 11 trucks on the road. This places pressure on truck drivers to find a secure spot to rest within the limits of their legal work hours, pushing them to make risky decisions to meet their work obligations. As a result, many drivers resort to parking on freeway off-ramps, side streets, and retail parking lots.

Legislative efforts

Both Democrat and Republican lawmakers in Congress have joined forces to address this issue. They are backing bills that would allocate $755 million to build additional truck parking spots nationwide. Truckers are relying on this legislation to provide them with safe places to rest during their mandatory breaks.

Fatigue and drowsy driving

Truck drivers operate under federally mandated “Hours of Service” regulations that aim to prevent fatigue-related accidents. However, recent changes to these regulations have raised concerns about the impact on road safety. Longer on-duty times may lead to fatigue, which impairs a driver’s performance behind the wheel. Fatigue can compromise a driver’s ability to maintain necessary skills like eye-hand coordination and manual dexterity, leading to an increased risk of accidents.

Recent research suggests truck drivers sleep, on average, about 6.2 hours per day before driving, which is less than the recommended 7 or more hours the AASM recommends. Additionally, drivers traveling between time zones may face an additional burden of fatigue. For truckers, the effect of shifting time zones is amplified given their non-traditional work schedule, raising the risk of drowsy driving accidents.

Scheduling variations pose a safety risk as well. Truckers may experience shift work disorder, which occurs when you have difficulties adjusting to your wake and sleep times due to your work schedule. Shift work disorder causes you to have trouble sleeping or be severely tired.

Watch this video for truckers to understand the signs, causes, and consequences of driver fatigue.

The role of sleep apnea

While long work hours can contribute to fatigue, sleep apnea may also play a role. Sleep apnea is a common sleep disorder characterized by pauses in breathing during sleep, leading to poor quality sleep and daytime drowsiness. Sleep apnea can impair drivers’ ability to stay alert and attentive behind the wheel. Estimates into the prevalence of sleep apnea among truck drivers vary; most likely, around 40% of truckers have the sleep disorder.

Despite its potential impact on road safety, there is no federal requirement for sleep apnea testing for commercial motor vehicle drivers. Some drivers fear that undergoing a sleep study and getting diagnosed with sleep apnea could jeopardize their jobs. However, it’s essential to recognize that sleep apnea is treatable. Your medical provider or a sleep doctor can help you select a treatment plan that is right for you.

Conclusion

The shortage of truck parking spaces has become a major roadblock for truck drivers. The constant search for a safe resting place leaves many drivers sleep-deprived and prone to drowsy driving accidents. Providing rest and parking for truck drivers is more than just a convenience, it’s a step toward ensuring safety on the road.

Medical review by John Saito, MD

Related:

• Study shows high rate of truckers with undiagnosed sleep apnea
• Sleep apnea, shift work a danger on the roads and rails

Authored by: Kate Robards

The post The growing shortage of truck parking: A ticking time bomb for drowsy driving accidents appeared first on Sleep Education.

On Dec. 1, 2013, a Metro-North train was traveling from Poughkeepsie to New York City. A locomotive was pushing seven train cars with about 115 passengers.

The train entered a curve where the speed limit was 30 miles per hour. But the train continued traveling at a speed of 82 mph. As a result the locomotive and all seven cars went off the rails. Four people were killed, and 61 others were injured. The accident also caused more than $9 million in damage.

The NTSB reports that more than 800 people died in railroad accidents in 2010. This represents only two percent of all annual U.S. transportation fatalities. About 94 percent of transportation deaths occur on U.S. roads. The Federal Railroad Administration reports that 96 percent of railroad deaths involve trespassing or track-crossing incidents.

The NTSB report concluded that the Metro-North train engineer had fallen asleep. His sleepiness was blamed on undiagnosed, severe obstructive sleep apnea. His sleep also may have been disrupted by a recent change in his work shift.

Sleep problems are a widespread danger in the transportation industry. To promote railroad safety the FRA recently sponsored the development of the Railroaders’ Guide to Healthy Sleep.

In March the NTSB medical report indicated that the Metro-North engineer did not recall events leading up to the accident. He was sent to a board certified sleep medicine physician for an evaluation.

The engineer was obese with a history of snoring. He also reported feeling excessive daytime sleepiness. Yet he had never been screened for sleep apnea by any of his medical providers.

A sleep study found that the engineer had severe sleep apnea. He had an average of more than 50 partial or complete breathing pauses for every hour of sleep. These breathing pauses reduced his oxygen levels. They also prevented him from sleeping well.

The doctor prescribed CPAP therapy for the engineer. After one month of treatment he was using CPAP for about seven hours per night. He reported feeling more energetic. Treatment also eliminated his daytime sleepiness.

The National Healthy Sleep Awareness Project reports that snoring is a warning sign for obstructive sleep apnea. Obesity also is a common risk factor for OSA.

Is sleep apnea putting your health and safety at risk? Pledge to “Stop the Snore” and talk to a doctor about sleep apnea. Treating sleep apnea will put your health back on track.

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The NTSB final report concludes that a sleepy pilot was flying the business plane. The resulting crash killed all five passengers. The NTSB concluded that “his fatigue due to acute sleep loss” contributed to the tragedy. Another factor was “his ineffective use of time between flights to obtain sleep.”

“Just as pilots should not take off without enough fuel, they should not operate an aircraft without enough rest,” Christopher Hart said in a press release. He is the NTSB Acting Chairman.

The business flight was carrying five people who operated several vein care centers. They were returning home from Nashville to Thomson, Georgia.

The pilot lowered the landing gear on approach to the county airport. Then a system failure message came on. The pilot ignored the warning and began to land the plane. Suddenly he attempted to abort the landing by lifting off near the end of the runway. But the aircraft’s left wing struck a utility pole about 63 feet above the ground. The wing was completely severed. The plane crashed nearby in a wooded area.

The pilot and co-pilot survived. But all five passengers died from multiple traumatic injuries. Their seats had been “forcibly detached from the airplane.”

The investigation revealed that the pilot had slept only five hours the night before the crash. He also had woken up early at 2 a.m. on the day of the flight. The crash occurred about 18 hours later around 8 p.m.

The report concluded “the pilot was likely suffering from fatigue at the time of the accident.” It also noted that fatigue causes attention, memory and performance problems.

The probable cause of the crash was the pilot’s performance errors. He neglected to follow proper procedures after the system failure.

“This pilot’s inadequate knowledge of his aircraft was compounded by his fatigue,” said Hart. “As a result, five people died who did not have to.”

The NTSB reports that 472 people died in aviation accidents in 2010. This represents only one percent of all annual U.S. transportation fatalities. About 94 percent of transportation deaths occur on U.S. roads.

The National Healthy Sleep Awareness Project reports that healthy sleep is critical for both public health and transportation safety. Most adults need seven to nine hours of nightly sleep for optimal alertness.

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5. Sleepless in Japan

Maybe a comfy bed in a cozy bedroom gets kind of boring sometimes. To shake things up, you can sleep in some unique and unusual hotels around the world. In a prison, underwater, in a mine, on a crane, in an igloo: The options are…interesting.

In 2013 one of our staff slept in a capsule hotel in Japan. It looked like a laundromat and felt like a space prison. Let’s just say that the ambience left much to be desired. Overall it was one sleepless night that he’ll never forget. Months later, you can still hear him mumbling, “There’s no bed like home, there’s no bed like home…”

4. Sleep apnea and football

One of the hot topics in the NFL this year was the risk of brain injury caused by concussions. But another common health risk for football players is obstructive sleep apnea. In August CBS sports college football analyst Aaron Taylor warned young football players about the dangers of sleep apnea. He has seen sleep apnea destroy the health of fellow players and friends. So Aaron decided to get help while he still had time. Treatment for sleep apnea has changed his life.

3. Smart sleep

Do smartphones know how to track your sleep? We took a look at sleep-tracking apps and fitness wristbands like Jawbone Up and FitBit Force. These devices can provide some useful sleep estimates. This can be helpful if you are setting health goals or making it a priority to get more sleep.

But these apps and fitness bands can’t provide an accurate analysis of your sleep. You will still need to get help for an ongoing sleep problem from the sleep team at an AASM accredited sleep center.

2. Summer sleep

Currently it’s 7 degrees outside of our office with a wind chill of 5 below zero. Summer – what’s that again? Oh yeah, the season with lots of daylight and too much heat. Sounds dreamy right about now. But the summer heat and humidity can make it hard to sleep well. Reading our No. 2 article from 2013, Sleep Tips for the Summer, might make you feel a little warmer on this cold winter day. Or it just might make you bitter. So maybe you should skip this one for now and come back to it in a few months.

1. Sleeping pill safety

In January 2013 the FDA issued a new safety announcement requiring drug makers to lower the recommended doses for sleeping pills that contain the drug zolpidem. The FDA’s primary concern was that people still may be drowsy the morning after taking a sleeping pill. Our No. 1 article from 2013, Ten Safety Tips for Taking Sleeping Pills for Insomnia, provides some practical advice. One of our top tips: Only take a sleeping pill when you will have enough time to get plenty of sleep. (Most sleeping pills, such as Ambien or Lunesta, should be taken at least seven to eight hours before you need to wake up.)

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine thanks you for visiting SleepEducation.com. We wish you a safe, healthy and happy new year in 2014.

The post Top 5 sleep stories of the year: 2013 appeared first on Sleep Education.

Throughout my travel experiences, I’ve found a way to fall asleep in hostel dormitories packed with rowdy Australian travelers, dirty hotels that more than likely had bedbug infestations and on the couches of strangers. None of those experiences would prepare me for the Japanese equivalent of a cheap room.

I spent one night in a capsule hotel in Nagoya, Japan. It was my first and it would be my last.

To call this form of accommodation a hotel is giving it more credit than it deserves. Capsules are tiny plastic cubicles stacked in rows by the dozen. Most capsules are very small – a little more than 6 feet deep and 3 feet wide. Each is outfitted with only a mattress, a thin sheet, a hard rice pillow and a small TV-radio.

Capsule hotels offer a place to sleep for travelling salarymen, people who miss the last train, men who can’t come home to their wives or the newly unemployed who can no longer afford rent.

So why would I ever choose to stay at a place that sounds so bleak?

To me, capsule hotels always seemed like an alien curiosity that you could only find in Japan, like smoke-filled pachinko parlors or those unsavory vending machines that sell used personal items you hear rumors about. While I never found those vending machines (I’ve heard Akihabara district of Tokyo may have a few), I stumbled across a capsule hotel near a train station in Nagoya. Next door was a pachinko parlor.

I was vacationing in Japan with an equally adventurous friend from the United States and an ex-patriot who lived in Tokyo. After an evening of discussion and drinks with a large group of locals we had befriended, we had made up our minds: we would sleep in a capsule that night instead of a hotel.

The group seemed entertained by our choice of accommodation. None of them had ever even considered staying in a capsule. I couldn’t tell if they were impressed by our bravery or just amused that two foreigners would willfully subject themselves to a capsule.

My ex-patriot friend who was fluent in Japanese would navigate the check-in process for us. He had known better and booked a hotel room down the street but was willing to help. To get to the capsule hotel, we had to take a small elevator to the eighth floor of a commercial complex. The elevator opened to an otherwise normal looking hotel lobby.

Once we had checked in and paid the equivalent of about $25, we were each handed a numbered locker key and a pair of suspiciously dingy blue pajamas. I felt like an inmate the entire time I wore my capsule uniform.

I had to walk through a smoke-filled common room to get to the capsules. A dozen older men, dressed in the same blue scrubs, were sitting on old couches, smoking and watching TV or reading manga. A sliding glass door in the back of the common room led to the main attraction.

If I didn’t know any better, I’d have thought I stepped into the largest laundromat I’d ever seen. The capsules were stacked in rows, each with a circular doorway in front, much like a spin cycle dryer. A small bamboo shade covered the entrance of the occupied capsules. From my estimates, at least a hundred people would be sleeping beside me.

I climbed up a small ladder and ducked into my assigned capsule. At 5’11” I could barely sit up without hitting my head on the ceiling. I closed the bamboo shade to go to sleep.

My discomfort intensified as I tried to sleep. I’ve never been claustrophobic, but I had no room to stretch or change my sleep position. Light seeped in through the near-useless shade.

It was far from quiet. Every noise echoed off of the fiberglass capsule walls. At least six people were snoring. My neighbor’s tossing and turning sounded like a minor tremor. Further down, someone was coughing into a megaphone.

Beginning at about 3 a.m., alarm clocks started going off. I tried to get whatever sleep I could between the disruptions.

By 7 a.m., I was fed up with trying to sleep in a fiberglass pod. My friend, who was sleeping in a nearby capsule, had a similarly restless night. We snapped a few photos and left without looking back.

Reflecting on the experience, I can’t say I regret spending that night in what I affectionately refer to as “space prison.” It helped me truly appreciate my own bed, and for that matter, every other accommodation I’ve had in my life.

If you ever visit Japan, a capsule hotel is worth considering for a night. Just don’t expect to actually sleep.

The post Sleepless in Japan: The capsule hotel experience appeared first on Sleep Education.

The study tested a new algorithm called the “circadian adjustment method.” It was implemented with a prototype scheduling software called “Shifter.” Together these tools were used to create optimal bright light therapy schedules for the treatment of jet lag.

The system was tested on a simulated 12-hour shift of a sleep-wake schedule. This is similar to what a person would experience when traveling from New York to Hong Kong.

The test protocol involved one 24-hour baseline day and a 28-hour wake episode that included a 12-hour phase shift. This was followed by 12 days of performance measurement.

Simulation results show that the computer-generated treatment schedule produced faster performance recovery. By day six, the performance profile across the day was similar to baseline levels. Without treatment, performance improved slowly over the next 12 wake episodes after the schedule shift.

“This work shows how interventions can cut the number of days needed to adjust to a new time zone by half,” study co-author Daniel Forger said in a prepared statement.

The study was published on June 19 in the journal PLoS Computational Biology.

Traveling across several time zones quickly puts you in a place where you need to sleep and wake at times that are much different than what your circadian body clock expects. As a result you may have trouble sleeping at night and staying awake during the day in your new location.

Properly timed light exposure can reset the circadian body clock to align with a new time zone. This can help you sleep better at night. It also can reduce fatigue and improve your daytime performance. But why would you need a high-tech computer program to plan your treatment schedule?

According to the study, it has to do with the complexity of light. The wavelength, timing, intensity, and duration of a light pulse all can have an effect on the circadian body clock. And brief bursts of light can have a greater impact than ongoing light exposure. This makes it hard to design general rules for a treatment schedule.

“Timed light exposure is a well-known method for beating jet lag,” Forger told CNN. “But few people realize that if timed incorrectly, it can actually make jet lag worse.”

The authors report that it may take weeks to manually design and test a treatment schedule. In contrast, the program tested in this study can produce an effective treatment schedule on a laptop computer in less than two minutes.

But it may be a while before the program is available to the public. Forger told CNN that it could be five years before the product is ready for release.

The authors report that their system can be used for other jet lag treatments. Their next step will be to develop modules for interventions such as naps, caffeine and melatonin.

And the system may be useful in developing treatment schedules for people with shift work sleep disorder. The authors even envision the system being used in extreme environments. It may help people in space, undersea or at the North Pole or South Pole.

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