Interesting article. But this paragraph worries me: "Kaplan is a big advocate of napping. "Fifteen or 20 minutes may be all you need," he tells WebMD. "One strategy for truck drivers is to take a full cup of coffee, then immediately follow with a 30-minute nap. Caffeine doesn't take effect for about 30 minutes, so you get the benefit of both." I don't think 30 minutes of sleep is enough for a truck driver...
Naps are an addition to a good night's sleep, not a replacement for it. I know from personal experience that, when I'm feeling a bit drowsy, a short nap works wonders. In any event, better that the truck driver is napping when he is parked on the side of the road rather than when he is bearing down on you on the highway, eh?
I am of the unfortunate kind that seems to need a fair bit of sleep, more than most. Should probably start exercising more. But I did read about something called "Polyphasic" sleep - is quite an interesting subject. A guy called Steve Pavlina apparently did it and blogged about it for over 6 months.. basically sleeping about 20 mins, 6 times per day if I remember right. The first couple of weeks are supposed to be tough, but after that it is a lot easier. Requires rather a lot of discipline with keeping to a schedule. All that extra time... but at what cost?
You have a good point here. I'd rather have them napping on the side of the road. I guess that is why I see them parked on the side of freeway entrances once in awhile. They are taking their 30-min nap. I have a cousin and two of my wife's relatives are truck drivers. It scares the hell out of me that they drive trucks... I can't figure out how in the heck they ever got their CD in the first place. I stay far, far away from trucks if I can when on the freeway. They will run over you if given half a chance...