10-4 Magazine - For Today's Trucker

April 2007 - Performance Zone
DROWSY DRIVERS & MORE
By Performance Specialist Bruce C. Mallinson

Do you get sleepy when driving all night? I know I do, so I don’t drive all night anymore. When I was in my late teens and early twenties, I demolished two Corvettes after falling asleep at the wheel. I did rebuild both cars, but I also learned my lesson. For those of you owner-operators and drivers out there that think you can drive when you are sleepy, take it from me – it’s not a good idea. When you are driving and your eyes are closed for four seconds at 60 mph, you travel 360 feet. If your eyes are closed for 30 seconds, your truck (and you) has traveled half a mile. Think that’s impossible? Well, researchers now have movies of truckers driving for 30 seconds with their eyes closed.

Due to the danger of the sleeping driver problem, Carnegie Mellon University of Pittsburgh, PA has been developing a camera called the DD850 Driver Fatigue Monitor that looks at your eyes during the night. Under the direction of Richard Grace and Jerry Edwards, V.P. of Business Development, the DD850 is in its 10th year of development. This camera counts how many times your eyes close and how long they stay closed (not just a blink, your eyes have to be closed for one second to count as eye closure). When the camera’s computer determines that your eyes are closing for 12% of the time, you will get a beep. If your eyes are closed for six seconds, the computer will beep at you six times. If your eyes are closed for three seconds, you will get three beeps – and these beeps will get your attention. This neat system is not designed to keep you awake; its purpose is to inform you that you’re getting sleepy and it’s time to park your truck.

The Department of Transportation (DOT) has a term for eye closures called Perclos, which is a way to measure how long your eyes are closed while driving. The DD850 Driver Fatigue Monitor has three settings; most of the time drivers keep it set on medium. If the driver is tired he should have it on high, and when you’re backing into a parking spot there is a standby mode. Standby mode is used because when your eyes are looking in the mirrors, the camera doesn’t see them and it will set off the alarm. So in order to use this device, you do have to occasionally push some buttons. It plugs into the cigarette lighter or can be wired in permanently and sits on top of the instrument panel. The “DD” stands for Drowsy Driver and the “850” is the wave length of the nanometers (nm) used to watch the eyes. Don’t worry, I have no idea what that means, either. Priced at $850.00 it is not a cheap piece of equipment, but an accident would cost you much more than that!

In the past, I have discussed how vibrations tear up your truck and how a vibrating truck will shorten the distance you can drive. Many owner-operators have taken our advice and installed a new viscous damper and one of our mercury-filled balancers, manufactured for us by Balance Masters, on their truck. When we move into our new facility in July, we will carry the complete line of Balance Masters products. The reports coming back to us from several owner-operators are, “The steering wheel no longer shakes, my hands are not getting numb, and I can now drive for several more hours before getting tired.” Think about this: if the truck isn’t shaking, don’t you think the vehicle will last longer? The rivets and screws that hold your vehicle together will stay tighter longer and you won’t feel the necessity to purchase a new truck as often. Not only that, you won’t have to repair the truck as often. Vibration in your truck is a terrible thing.

Now for some strange thoughts from my head! Every time I cross those ridiculously expensive bridges going into New York City with my six-axle RV, I think about you owner-operators. Being that I’m not hauling food or products for the people of NYC and Long Island to exist, I have to pay. However, many of you are hauling products to make their lives possible. So, why do you have to pay the high tolls? If no one went into NYC because of the tolls on the bridges or highways, the people of Long Island and NYC could only live for three days with the amount of food in the grocery stores and warehouses. My feeling is that you’re doing the people there a huge favor – you are their “Knights in Shining Armor” – so why don’t they give you a break!

Another charge I don’t understand is why the truck driver has to pay lumpers to unload their freight. Once you get the trailer backed into their dock, your part of the job is complete. It shouldn’t be your job to unload their freight. When I started working in the trucking industry in 1969, all we were required to do was tailgate delivery. Our drivers never touched the freight dock. They ordered it and paid for it. Let them unload it themselves while you supervise them to make sure they don’t hurt your trailer.

Also, who came up with the big idea of 53’ x 102” trailers at no extra charge to the shippers and/or receivers? Name me one other industry that offers more service for less money. After all, a larger trailer costs more to buy, hauls more product, is harder to get around in the cities and gets less fuel mileage, yet the freight is priced the same as it was when we had 40’ x 96” trailers. The trucking industry makes everybody’s life possible and yet is one of the most underpaid industries out there. And truck drivers are the most unappreciated workers in the country. Who works harder than you guys? Think of how many times per year you have to drive in snow, ice, fog, heavy rain, traffic, and on poor highways and rough bridges. And let’s not forget the fact that you have to deal with obnoxious people around you every day, knowing you are the one that makes their lives possible.

Well, that’s my opinion and I’ll just leave it at that. Thanks for reading and allowing me to vent a little bit! If you have any performance-related questions or comments, or if you want to know more about the DD850 Driver Fatigue Monitor, send me an e-mail to bruce@pittsburghpower.com or call me at the shop at (724) 274-4080. When we move to our new location in July, our new phone number will be (724) 360-4080.