You’re sleepy, you’re standing close to a day cab — and you start to contemplate between “do I sleep in this day cab?” and “should I not…?” If that’s you, or your experience is something similar, we know you’re also likely to ask the question — Can You Sleep In A Day Cab?

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Can You Sleep In A Day Cab?

Generally, day cabs are designed for day travel. How about you simply pull over and find a comfortable place to sleep? According to a Reddit user, it is illegal to sleep in a day cab; dot will have the a** of your company for that.

How To Sleep In A Day Cab Truck

Day cab trucks aren’t designed in such a way that one can sleep in. However, while you’re on your way to your destination, driving a day cab truck, you can actually sleep in one — but it’d require that you make use of a little investment or ingenuity. Day cab drivers, most times, find themselves having time on their hands. Waiting to unload or load cargo, caught between runs, or just at the very end of a couple-day run and being moved to catch a nap — the listed are the various situations where a driver finds himself doing what’s possible to sleep right inside his day cab truck.

Below are up to three approaches you can adopt when it comes to sleeping inside a day cab without spending the expense of using a hotel or being hunched over the steering wheel:

1. Look for a way to construct a foam-padded sleep board — and make it fit over the sitting inside the day cab. If you’re someone who’s handy, you can take a measurement of s piece of particleboard or plywood to the seating size of your day cab. Take a piece of fabric and foam, and cover the board — with this, you have a really comfortable option, an option that can help you rest while driving. You can locate your cab’s passenger seat and store the board, using bedding and pillow, in order to have easy access.

2. Get a hammock and make use of it in the cab. Day cab drivers love using camping hammocks and custom-made hammocks that are designed for day cabs to have a nap in their trucks. In terms of the placement, the hammocks are attached to the cab’s door and they hover above the seating. They’re quite comfortable, and another amazing thing is, they have what it takes to handle large and tall drivers.

3. Spend money on the day cab conversion kit. You can get these kits in different price ranges and materials, and ensure that the cab is extended in order to have extra sleeping space.

One essential skill needed when trying to be in the know of how to sleep in a truck is “creativity.” With a little trial-and-error and research, you’ll be able to easily find the best option, in terms of comfort.

How To Sleep In A Pickup Truck Cab

When doing everything possible to figure out how to take a nap in a truck, you have to understand that sleeping in the cab of a pickup truck comes with similar constraints to a day-cab truck — but as for space, it’s even tighter. If there’s a need to sleep inside a single cab truck, the only comfort-assuring option you’ll have would be to, over the seating, create a makeshift bed. Ensure the pillows, blankets, and sheets are kept clean and dry. How can you do that? You can keep them dry and clean by storing them inside a sealed container.

You can make use of something called a sleeping pallet — and this sleeping pallet is created from plywood — to ensure the cab area is more comfortable for sleeping. Alternatively, you can either use layer bedding or sleeping bags to achieve such. Make sure you don’t forget to crack windows for fresh airflow and keep the doors locked. Of course, for safety.

How To Sleep In The Backseat Of A Truck

Pickups with extended cabs offer even more variety of sleeping options. Drivers can make for themselves several sleeping pallets — something similar to what we described for day cabs using fabric, foam coverings, and plywood in order to provide sleeping space right on the seats in the back of the cab. If you want to step up the comfort level, then you can get a commercially manufacture mech cot. In case you’ve not seen that before, or don’t know what it is, it’s designed to fit perfectly on top of the seating inside the truck’s backseat.

When it comes to sleeping births, they also come in a wide variety — and they’re available from custom truck outfitters and camping suppliers. These sleep births are something you can afford — and they come in DOT compliant versions. This particular option makes a better night’s sleep possible while logging the time of sleep birth — according to the guidelines of the Federal DOT.

How To Sleep In A Truck Bed When You’re Tall

Large and tall drivers have been bringing into existence a couple of ways to sleep comfortably in their trucks, for years. A good number of the options which are already mentioned are designed by tall and big drivers. Now, let’s look at the sleeping platform: any custom-made one has what it takes to accommodate a tall driver. Both in-truck and camping designed hammocks are designed to give comfort to talk and big sleepers.

Below are some pieces of advice given by tall drivers to help other sleep comfortably in a truck:

Ensure you look for the sleeping spaces, and test them out before you even need them. By doing this, you can have in your possession the various supplies you need in order to be comfortable whenever the need arises — the need to take a nap.
When possible, you can make use of a pillow and sleep diagonally. To be more comfortable, there’s something you can do: elevate the head. Elevating the head can bring comfort in cramped spaces.
Invest in bedding and padding to turn the discomfort around those tight spaces to comfort.
You can customize that space you’ve made for sleeping to optimize comfort using both commercially and handcrafted available products.

How To Sleep In The Back Of A Truck

In recent times, having a nap in a pickup truck’s back has turned into a bit of an art form. Drivers go to the bed of pickups and create sleeping platforms — platforms that provide a comfortable sleeping space with storage space underneath. When it comes to the time you have to travel for extended periods, like from one job to another, taking the time and burden to ensure that the bed of your truck is fit-out for the “sleeping” purpose is an amazing idea. Many of the truck beds out there come with plastic liners — together with horizontal grooves.

To make the sleeping platform, you can simply make sure you slide the plywood in along these grooves. Then, you’d see a space below; that space is enough to store personal effects, supplies, equipment, and tools. In order to get optimal comfort, don’t forget to layer bedding on the sleeping platform. If you discover that travel is even more spontaneous, you can make use of good bedding and a blow-up mattress to get a good sleep in the back of your truck. This space won’t be optimized that much — but it’ll provide you the comfort and warmth you need for sleeping while on the road.

Get Good Rest And Stay Safe While On The Road

It’s imperative that you do a configuration of your truck in order to get good rest. Not only will the configuration give you a good rest, but it will also assure you the safety you need, and the safety of other drivers. You want to put in the effort and take the time to make plans in advance for sleeping, whether you’re an over-the-road, regional or local trucker. Stay in compliance and healthy by ensuring that your truck is prepared in advance for those sleeping needs of yours.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Can You Log Off Duty In A Day Cab?

For instance, if you’re running a day cab, you are not allowed to be “off duty” or “sleeper berth.”

Can Shot Hot Drivers Sleep In Their Truck?

While it didn’t qualify as a sleeper, there isn’t any rule that says all 10hr off duty has to be in a sleeper or motel. As long as he’s not sitting in the drivers’ seat, he can just log off duty while the other driver drives.

Can You Go Off Duty While Being Unloaded?

If you’re sitting at a dock in the truck, you can’t log Off Duty because you’re still in the truck. Technically you might not be in the sleeper, but it’s a whole lot easier to say you were in the sleeper than to say you left the truck in the dock and went shopping for 3 hours.