The difficulty of maintaining proper sleep and eating habits are two of the most common. However, there are also other areas that must be considered if we are to get a better understanding of the problems truck drivers experience as shift workers. The natural biological clock in each human being dictates to us that we work, or be active, during daylight hours and sleep or rest at night. We live in a fast-paced society in which our work dictates survival. We are not all biologically on the same wavelength by choice, or by some directive that affects our normal lives and the lives of those with whom we are closely affiliated.
Truck drivers are, and always have been, shift workers.
As they roll down the nation's highways in control of 41 tons of perpetual motion, the demands on their lives become of critical interest to everyone. Truck drivers work alone, for the most part, and not under direct supervision. At times they must make split-second decisions which could affect their cargo, their life, or the lives of others. Judgement at those times must be razor sharp or the end result could be disastrous. They tend to be either party animals or social recluses, and are seldom moderate in their living habits.