Welcome back to the second half of our two-part PSA about the dangers of drowsy driving in commercial fleets and how to keep your fleet drivers, vehicles, and team passengers safe. Last time, we went into depth on the dangers of drowsy driving, why it's important to protect your fleet, and fleet management policies to address this serious safety concern.
It's important to remember that drowsy driving can happen to any driver at any time of day, depending on how well they've slept and if they are coming down with an illness. Early-morning and late-night drivers are at the greatest risk, but anyone could find themselves losing focus behind the wheel due to insufficient rest.
Today, we're diving right in with eight helpful tips on how to identify, avoid, and remedy drowsy driving in your commercial fleet.
1) Know the Signs
The first way for drivers to keep themselves safe is simply to know when they are drowsy. Ask your drivers to judge their own safety to drive both on how long they've been awake and how focused they are at the time.
Tell them to watch for nodding, heavy eyelids, and realizing they don't remember the last stretch of road. Drifting in the lane and nodding off are particularly dangerous and should be considered emergency warning signs that a driver needs to trade off or pull over.
2) Drink Caffeine
Normally, going for a chemical solution is not ideal but caffeine can effectively provide a few extra minutes or even hours of alert driving if used correctly. This can be essential on emergency calls or when a driver is working solo and can't trade off.
A cold caffeinated soda or hot coffee can help a great deal. Make sure your teams, especially late-night teams, have access to caffeine inside the car. If using more concentrated sources like caffeine shots, advise your team to sip them slowly until the desired wakefulness is achieved to avoid over-dosing and becoming jittery.
3) Switch Drivers
If there is another capable driver in the car, advise your teams to take turns behind the wheel in order to finish a long night of late-night driving. This can give each driver a chance to close their eyes for a few minutes in the passenger's seat or let the caffeine kick in for their turn.
4) Do a Little Exercise
Interestingly, drowsiness can be fought back with blood circulation. If your drivers do switch off, advise the resting driver to do some quick blood-pumping exercises to help wake up and fight off another wave of drowsiness.
For a solo driver, doing isometric exercises (tensing and releasing muscles) can serve a similar purpose. Abdomen flexing, in particular, can move a lot of blood and wake up the body without throwing off one's driving posture.
5) Be Careful Around Normal Sleep Times
If one or more of your drivers is on shift when they would normally be asleep, watch out. The body's circadian rhythm (body clock) expects us to fall asleep around this time each night. The brain actually releases sleep signals when the normal bedtime comes around.
This means that team members up 'past their bedtime' will experience at least a brief period of drowsiness as they work through the time they would normally be falling asleep.
6) Listen to Something Interesting
Engaging conversation is often the key to staying awake behind the wheel because it keeps the brain stay active and reactive. However, holding a conversation with a passenger has a certain amount of risk, especially when one or both people are already sleepy.
Make sure your team has access to radio stations or a collection of playable audio content in the car (music, podcasts, books on tape, ect.) to help keep them awake at night.
7) Cool Air on the Face
If your team is just trying to make it through the last stretch of a late shift, a little cold air can make a real difference.
A strong cold blast of winter air or from the AC vent can serve as a quick emergency wake-up call behind the wheel but it only works a few times when a driver is very tired.
8) Return to Base
Finally, make it clear to your drivers that if they don't feel safe on the road, that it's better to come back to HQ than to crash. If a job has to be postponed or a route isn't finished, these are logistics that can be handled.
The most important thing is that your team is safe behind the wheel on late nights, emergency calls, and if they've been sleeping poorly.
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Whether your business fleet provides emergency repair services, all-night airport rides, or provides the occasional road trip services; drowsy driving is a serious concern that all fleet managers must consider.
Watch out for the signs of an exhausted driver and make sure your drivers know how to stay safe on the road when they get tired.
For more insights, functional fleet systems, and PSA information on fleet management, contact us today. The Wilmar team is always ready to help a business build and manage the perfect service fleet.
