How to Reduce Fatigue Behind the Wheel: Recommendations for Extended Journeys in Colombia

Securing long trips is great. You get a bigger guaranteed income without needing to wait between rides. Plus, you only need to go to the pick-up point once or twice. If we’re only going to look from the financial perspective, this can be the best approach to working as an independent rider in Colombia.

But because of how lucrative it can be, many riders tend to pursue one long ride after another. This normally results in driver fatigue, which can affect not only your long-term income potential but also your health.

There are a lot of reasons that long rides tend to make drivers tired. From what we have seen with drivers in Colombia, these are the biggest culprits:

• Hours of focus on the road. Driving requires a lot of focus. Hours of that can strain your mind and reduce your reaction time.
• Lack of rest. Let’s say that you decided to go for a long trip instead of ending your shift. You’d need your mind and body to keep going even though you’d normally be resting by then.
• Monotony of highways. This tends to happen if you’re transporting your passengers from one major Colombian city to another. There may not be a lot of visual stimulation in between, which can lead to tiredness.
• Physical strain. Joints and other parts of the body may ache from being in the same position for an extended period. It’s also important to remember that driving is more than just sitting. So, there’s also normal tiredness that comes with physical jobs.

As you can see, driver fatigue is not just about physical exhaustion. Mental exhaustion can also take a toll on you.

Tiredness while driving can be dangerous. So, take these warning signs seriously:

There can be many signs, all of which tell you the same thing: get out of the road. Acting on what your body is telling you may just save your life.

Make sure that you’re ready to get back on the road by following these tips:

• Have regular check-ups. This is important because failing to address health symptoms doesn’t just mean physically getting worse. It can also decrease your effectiveness as a driver, making you more prone to accidents.
• Make it a point to have quality sleep.. Uninterrupted deep sleep gets you energized so that your body can better handle extended rides. It also helps decrease the chance of sleeping on the wheel.
• Don’t stress too much. Extreme stress can increase your heart rate, blur your vision, and even cause hyperventilation. Any of those can have an impact on your safety, so try to think happy thoughts.

Even with just these, you can eliminate significant factors in car accidents. Think about what signs of fatigue you tend to experience. Focusing on addressing those specifically will help you have a generally more promising outcome.

Once you’re out of recovery and back on the road, try not to overwork yourself. Take breaks when possible and make sure you never go hungry. This way, you’re energized and fully present for every second that you’re working.

A long ride is highly profitable, but we hope that you take care of yourself so that it doesn’t come with opportunity costs. Knowing the signs of driving fatigue is a huge advantage that lets you take care of the problem before anything bad happens.

Protecting your well-being will benefit more than your immediate family. It’s an important component of safe driving that every driver should follow.