Word of Caution for Rookie Drivers

[olroadbeech]

Did you ever work in package?

yes. right after the 97 strike.

 

[charm299]

Pickels are an awesome source of salt and electrolytes to keep around as a cold, refreshing snack.

Dude I work with brings a bottle of pickle juice everyday

 

[Fido]

Dude I work with brings a bottle of pickle juice everyday

Straight vinegar

 

[wilberforce15]

Straight vinegar

Vinegar full of electrolytes.

 

[Fido]

Vinegar full of electrolytes.

Eating the pickle is one thing. Drinking the juice is another

 

[Red Devil]

Eating the pickle is one thing. Drinking the juice is another

That’s what she said

 

[Fido]

That’s what she said

Pervert

 

[G.V. Rush]

Old school drivers smoked, drank, ate badly, lived without a/c, and never collapsed.

Yeah!! Now get off my lawn!

 

[Off the leash]

Old school drivers smoked, drank, ate badly, lived without a/c, and never collapsed.

Damn straight!

 

[Off the leash]

That's a nasty stuff I bought it some by accident and ended up throwing them all in a garbage.

I usually mix my Gatorade with a little bit of water

Takes some getting used to but not bad after a while. Start with G2 first. Gotta watch the sugar lol

 

[IVE GOTTA PACKAGE 4U]

Takes some getting used to but not bad after a while. Start with G2 first. Gotta watch the sugar lol

As you have a few sips out of my Gatorade and gradually have a little bit of water to it as I drink it

 

[Off the leash]

As you have a few sips out of my Gatorade and gradually have a little bit of water to it as I drink it

That works

 

[Off the leash]

Yeah!! Now get off my lawn!

Didn’t have them gay shorts either! We sweat like manly men. Lol

 

[IVE GOTTA PACKAGE 4U]

That works

I take a variety drinks to work on the really hot days

 

[Off the leash]

 

[Edd O'Rion]

You may need to double your fluid intake. I drink mostly Diet Cokes, which actually hydrate better than water. I also throw in water, Gatorade, chocolate milk, iced tea, etc.
Also, do you have a fan in the cab? If not, have them install one ASAP.

 

[Poop Head]

I drink mostly Diet Cokes, which actually hydrate better than water.

I hear smoking menthols oxygenates your blood better than breathing regular air.

 

[charm299]

You may need to double your fluid intake. I drink mostly Diet Cokes, which actually hydrate better than water. I also throw in water, Gatorade, chocolate milk, iced tea, etc.
Also, do you have a fan in the cab? If not, have them install one ASAP.

Anything that I can use to melt the corrosion of my battery cables does not hydrate better than water

 

[moldsporh]

(this is a bit long-winded with a lot of numbers. my apologies if it's too much to read, but there is a tl;dr at the bottom)

I'm a rookie myself (less than two years driving) so please don't take this as condescending. This is my second summer and I've suffered heat exhaustion twice in the past three weeks. The first time I was pulled from the route and had about a week off to replenish/recover. Felt fine after a week, went back to work, made it three days before it happened again (I finished the route that day but had to call out the next.) So I let my team know, went to get bloodwork done to figure out what I'm missing, and next thing you know the doctor's saying I need an ambulance to transport me to an ER due to extremely low sodium content.

I drink 10-14 16oz bottles of water a day, at least 56oz of sugar-free Gatorade, and I keep a liter of Pedialyte in my cooler at all times to sip on as needed. Where I've been lacking is my diet, so I also take 3 supplements a day: magnesium, potassium gluconate, and dicalcium phosphate. Thing is, dealing with heat indexes of 100F-115F (about 80% humidity), it just wasn't enough.

This job is absolutely easy in a sense. You follow the methods, deliver the boxes, get the job done. Dealing with the elements can be a dance with the devil, though, and in these hot summer months you really need to take care of yourselves and be aware of any negative changes in your body/the way you're feeling so that you don't end up in the same position I've come to find myself in.

Proper hydration isn't just about slamming fluids and taking your lunch break when you're sweating for 10-12hrs in this summer heat. You've got to ensure that your diet is also providing you with more than just energy and a feeling of fullness, even when taking supplemental minerals and electrolytes. You can't let yourself get stuck in the back of the truck looking for that one package that you were just told was scanned and loaded on-car. Keep an eye out for shady areas when pulling up to a delivery location-- even if you've gotta walk an extra 20ft, do what you can to park out of direct sunlight and make sure to occasionally open the bulkhead and backdoors to let some of that oven-worthy heat escape back out into the wild. Make mental notes of places where you could take a break in an air-conditioned environment, and for Christ's sake use them to cool down and prevent yourself from starting to develop any kind of heat illness.

I know they pound this stuff into us at PCMs, and I also know that once you're on-car you may just want to get the day over with as quickly as you can (especially the newer drivers.) It's easy to tell yourself you just need to weather the storm for one more hour, or you'll get that next bottle of water after your next stop, or you'll wait until you're in a certain area to take all or part of your lunch break. Don't do that. When the thought first hits you that you need water, get water. Same with food, finding a place to cool-down, all of that. Don't postpone it and, if anything, try to make it a habit to take action before you have those thoughts.

I hope everybody stays safe and healthy out there because, depending on where you work, that can be much easier said than done.


tl;dr: Don't be dumb. Take care of yourself during these summer months.


*edited a few times to make for a cleaner read. I always proofread after I hit post, lol. Like an idiot

Glad you are ok.

Have to ask.....how fast are you chugging water?

Too fast and you will rinse away most of your minerals. You body can only use a small amount of water at a time.

Take about 3 paper towells together, roll it into a tube with about a 1" inside diameter. Pour an 8 oz glass of water into the "tube" at a 45 deg angle. You will get absorbtion, and waste. The waste will not be used.

It's a crude analogy but hopefully you get the idea. Your body doesn't have a holding tank for water, you have to consume it gradually.

 

[PPH_over_9000]

Glad you are ok.

Have to ask.....how fast are you chugging water?

Too fast and you will rinse away most of your minerals. You body can only use a small amount of water at a time.

Take about 3 paper towells together, roll it into a tube with about a 1" inside diameter. Pour an 8 oz glass of water into the "tube" at a 45 deg angle. You will get absorbtion, and waste. The waste will not be used.

It's a crude analogy but hopefully you get the idea. Your body doesn't have a holding tank for water, you have to consume it gradually.

Yeahhh, that's exactly what happened. I was going for a bottle per shelf, ended up going through about 2 per shelf. By 18:30 I was clocking out and finishing off my thirteenth 16oz bottle of water and my third 28oz bottle of gatorade. I'm also 125lbs soaking wet, so I pretty much overhydrated to the point of medical emergency.

It just confused the hell out of me as to how I depleted my sodium levels in half a day. That was the one electrolyte/mineral I never thought I had to worry about, because my diet has always covered my sodium needs about three times over every day. I learned really quickly that your overall diet doesn't matter if you're not "filling the tank" throughout the day.