Truckers usually drive in tandem. They are still NOT allowed to be more than 10 hours, or 600 miles, behind the wheel. When they are not driving, they are mandated, by law, to be in the back of the cab in the sleeper berth. If they sit in the passenger seat, it is counted AS DRIVING. That is the law, their logs are often checked completely, and they can lose both their job and their commercial license if they are found to be fudging on the logs. The policy on RTA is to use the truckers' mandates as what is sensible for us.

Have we all broken this rule of thumb? Absolutely. Therefore, when we recommend 600 miles as a maximum, it is because each of the regulars has made errors in judgement and have learned from their mistakes. My husband and I have tried a lot of things over the years, mostly before his short career as a semi-truck driver, which included driving 750 miles in one day and then set up campsite, driving at night and trying to sleep during the day (only works if your body clocks are used to that because you're a night worker), sleeping in the car (oh, my creakin' neck!), and more. I've been part of a 4-student car driving 1500 miles straight through, and from that experience, that's where I know that sleeping while somebody else is driving, does not afford you proper rest. When it was my turn to drive, I was still very tired, especially when I had to drive at night.


Donna