Dave Chappelle I agree but that restraint system for the bed and its not legal to use the bed with the truck in motion. What the hell is the restraint system for then?? That kind of regulation is MORONIC. Then of course you have a door at each end of the bed BUT that's not good enough.... the passenger seat has to be removed. AGAIN MORONIC. That guarantees you can't have 2 drivers. ONCE AGAIN MORONIC.
I got rid of my dually and bought a cheap single axle tractor. Slept better, still got good fuel mileage, I could haul more freight, and less maintence using the right tuck for long haul work
All of these hot shot guys eventually wise up and buy a real semi truck or kill themselves trying to make a pickup work. These pickup trucks are not designed for this type of abuse and they never will be.
I'm not sleeping in my truck...lol I drove semi's for 20 years and part of that time I was otr. I will never sleep In another truck again. I get hotel rooms every night that I'm out which is usually 2-3 nights a week. Yea it cost me some money but #1 I'm comfortable and #2 it's tax deductible. Of it ever gets to the point where I can't afford to pay for hotels then I'll sell my pickup and work a regular job.
Joe, So based on what I'm seeing and reading here, it is NOT required to have this system while the truck is stationary....only while it's moving (meaning the restraint system). Swingle Jason mentions below that the rules have changed and we can just make a bed in the back and sleep without breaking any DOT rules, is this correct and where can we find these 'rule changes'?? I just purchased a non-cdl straight truck with a crew cab that I want to turn into a sleeper, or have the ability to sleep back there when I want to.....so I want to be 100% certain that this is in fact the case and I can sleep back there. Awesome videos by the way.
The "net" restraint that comes with this setup, IS required while you're moving....but it's purpose, is to keep anything stored behind the driver's seat from flying forward, and taking out the driver during a hard braking, and/or collision type event.
Whats next, special requirements for tent camping? Talk about government over reach. To do this to your truck means you cant use your truck when you are off duty for passengers. I just don't get it? When you put all these regulations on the people you make it harder for people to want to get into an industry. Yes, Hotel rooms every night is expensive.
Mark Hoffman Well they (DOT) need to set some standards for what a sleeper compartment is. Of course you have the right to have an opinion on how much is too much regulation, but I see the legitimate need for some standards. Their goal is to avoid sleepless zombies pulling heavy trailers on public roads.
Are there any hauling gigs a guy with a half ton pickup and a 6 by 12 covered cargo trailer can get? I don't want to do partial delivery but some sort of cargo hauling in that small trailer
Great explanation and thanks for taking the time to do the video. I do think you are mistaken about harnessing into sleeper when you're not moving or before going to sleep. The safety system is designed for two and should be used only when moving. It wouldn't make any sense to belt yourself in when you're parked just as you don't need to wear a seat-belt when your parked.
Keep in mind sleeper is not required but for team drivers it is. You can’t explain to the officer you got 10 hours of duty without a dot approved sleeper
joel guevara Absolutely correct. You can only log off duty while sleeping in the truck if it is not moving. If the truck is moving as with teams, you can only log 2 hours off duty in the passenger seat and the rest must be in a legal sleeper birth.
i am getting close to Hot Shot driving. My question is - is it Legal to sleep in your truck when your Hot shotting ?? i worry about being on the road and pulling over to sleep and getting hassled
hey joe, ive enjoyed your video. I would like a way to personally contact you if at all possible as me and my father are about to start our own hotshot company within a couple weeks. I have some general questions that could use proper guidance. We want this to be successful. Please let me know if there is some way I could directly contact you. Thank you for the sleeper video, we will be putting this in our equipment.
Dave hawkins "hot shotting" is generally driving a smaller truck like this one to take "LTL" or "less than truckload" expedited freight. As in, a shipper has a quantity of freight (including vehicles) that would not fill a standard class 8 semi-trailer, but they need it shipped quickly, so a "hotshot" truck will be a smaller lighter unit that can take the load quickly to its destination without needing to hire a full size class 8 heavy truck.
We have done this and never gotten any grief because the seat belts remain. The rear seat is replaced completely with a mattress. i would check with DOT first though
I got mine installed. I had to make them put the rear of the Seat back in, and put the normal seat belts in so I can have a passenger. So far I am liking it and saving some $$$ on motels. Did you reinstall the rear of your seat or did you leave it out? When they left mine out I felt like there were were to many sharp edges to catch on so I made them put it back in
That's great Shannon. No. i never had them install the rear. i didn't know i could have done that until later when i had seen someone else with it like that. Now i roll solo so i dont really have to worry about it. i left the seat belts in though.
some good info. im gojng to start running a 3 car in a few weeks. i got a insurance quote for 900 a month with 1500 down. the vehicles are new. ill be pulling out of chicago heights Illinois. seem about right?
I went out an purchased a CO monitor at Walmart before I slept in the truck the first time and I always leave a window cracked. The CO monitor looks like a smoke detector
systemsoundbar if your truck's exhaust system is properly constructed and in good condition you should not have excess carbon monoxide building up in the cabin. But purely for fuel economy and idling laws, I'd recommend to turn the truck off and just crack a window and use extra blankets, unless you are somewhere super cold like sub zero temps, then I would idle and run the heat.
Do you see how its counter sunk on the doors to reach the measurements. A door handle on each side reduced those #'s over 7". This seems the closest I have seen. Lots of Hotshots todays date still think they can just sleep in the back of their pickup. Or are just logging off duty hours and flying under radar. At the same time, many people are still getting tickets left and right. I have heard you need a CLEAR path to the Driver seat while in the sleeper? how is that strap helping that?
Wht not just put extensions on the front seat so it can move all the way forward to the dash. That & with the center console removed should give plenty of room to go from front to back. I'd also just get rear replacement door shells & the glass then keep to be able to reinstall rear doors to convert back or sell them as full rear doors.
My name is Leo, I have looked in to buying a kit to make a sleeper and I have gotten a hold of the person who made the window bubble and he told me he no longer manufactures them.
cowtown sleepers in texas have decent add-on sleepers..take out your back window....seen a guy with one..he took out the back seat and the passenger seat,,,,had a little desk over a fridge/microwave combo on the passenger side of his pickup ..with a little chair ....behind the drivers seat had a little cabinet for clothes with a 32" Tv on top.....really cramped but you dont notice it until you are moving around.
When off duty the law states that you must take a “break” it doesn’t state that you must be sleeping or at a hotel. DOT can’t force you to show them receipts. Only intimidate you to comply. Just saying.
ArcolaBridge the mattress has to be at least 75"×24" with 24" of space between the top of mattress and roof of sleeper to be legal. You could measure out a 75×24 space and see if you are comfortable.
This guy talks too much and doesn't show anything, he's flapping a hundred miles an hour and hasn't even shown nothing inside as far as the bed is concerned, please shut up sell the damn bed
who would listen to government regulations like that? it's bad enough the government workers take our money for doing almost nothing... but then they have to annoy us? Can they not just take the money and be happy they got free money?
You have a very limited, simple, and some what scary grasp on how the u.s. government works. I'm not saying I like it, that it's good, or that we should encourage what's going on within the government because I personally think we need huge reform but go spend a year or two in a different country and see what you have to say about the u.s. government again
Run teams w/out a front seat? WTH? What if you want to take your wife with sometimes? It's 2018, Trump is cutting regulations and I see he met with a trucking co. a few days back. Hopefully (most) obnoxious rules and regs. will disappear. Trump says for every reg. he's cutting two. Free America!
WeeeThPpl If the passenger seat stays then it is no longer a legal sleeper birth. The reason they remove the passenger seat is because the rules state that a legal sleeper must have a "direct and ready" path between the sleeper birth and the driver's seat which is unhindered and has an opening or passage which measures a minimum of at least 18"x36".
@@KaMiKaZeE1337 what if you remove the center section in between the two front seats? It should have the sufficient measurements and a direct path to the driver seat.
tony m sain sr Buahahahahah 😂 now that is what I was thinking. Sleep in your so called fire proof cocoon and live through it to tell the story how you woke up and everything around you was burnt down. Thanks D.O.T regulations. Just kidding we get it, seconds count
Instead of going with a set up like this just invest in a a 27ft Class C Coachman Motorhome 18 foot enclosed trailer and 18ft Flat Bed Equipment Trailer I also have 2 1997 Chevy 1500 converson vans 16 foot Flat Bed Equipment Trailers and 16ft Enclosed Trailers
The only practical use I could see for this is if you're team driving. Which if you're hotshotting...why? But all of this is spending money unnecessarily. I hotshot with an F350 crew cab with no mods to the backseat and have never had an issue. All you have to do is log off duty
Zilliz 000 get your facts right before u make stupid comments u idiot ,berth is a bunk or place to sleep ,birth is when u go through pain and labor , so get your facts and meanings correct
What about the regulation for the office where all these jerks make the law they should be working on more important problems estead of where you sleep in your truck How about work on our health care jerks freaking law makers have lost there minds
Sue the shit out of them for discrimination! You should be able to start your own company with a shiney new truck if you have a valid discrimination suit.
Hi, I'm trying to get into hotshot trucking part time just on weekends to supplement my full time income but I'm having a problem finding cargo insurance. The insurance companies ive spoken with say I need a commercial policy with will cost a minimum of $1,000 per month which id never be able to afford doing this part time. Do I need a commercial policy? Can I get an inexpensive cargo insurance policy? Id really appreciate it if you could point me in the right direction.
Sleepers save money and are way better then the hard ass bench seat i asked the dot about it since everyones saying u cant sleep in your truck without a sleeper what dot told me is basically they dont care you just can't log it as sleeper birth since there technically isnt one but as i was told if your off duty as in not working as in driving you can do whatever you like i do recommend a sleeper tho million times more comfortable and cheaper
Don't do it, just quit and bought a 18 wheeler, cost less, used dually is in the 30 thousands, new trailer about 12,000, plus all permit and insurance, at the end, barely no money, tires don't last, bad, then too many of them, buy a truck , you can get a modern Volvo 780 with Detroit for 50,000, new dually dodge 3500 with 6.7 Cummins is about 70,000, just think about it
@@thisismagacountry1318 More like 50K a year after expenses. Think about it, if you actually netted 3K a week doing this, popping between 70 - 100 bucks a night for a hotel would not be a big deal. Especially since you are going to burn 2 bucks running the engine on cold nights.
None of these rules make sense to me. Nascar style crash net to catch your bad dreams? Can't open the rear window so you gotta run your engine? And you can't sleep while driving anyway.
if you are team driving, I think you adapt and learn to sleep while the vehicle is moving. The Nascar thing gave me an idea. Perhaps they should have team driving Nascar racing.
the fact that you had to take a moment to announce a brief disclaimer regarding the fact you may have had a beer while working on your own vehicle... makes me lose that much more faith in the world these days.
hot shot sleeper ? no problem..buy a 1 ton van..cut the van body back enough to allow clearance for a 5th wheel....equip it like a 76" t680 sleeper..good to go
What I don't understand is those restraint belt things, I've never seen anything like that in a class A so why would a pickup need them? Granted I'm not a trucker at all, but I've watched so many videos over the years and never seen those in a truck. Your setup looks uncomfortable as fuck, I wouldn't even fit in there. I'm not trying to be critical, just saying the DOT shouldn't be regulating any of that stuff, a driver shouldn't have to alter their truck in any way just to do work with it.
Nodak81 FMCSA 393.76 (h) "Occupant restraint. A motor vehicle manufactured on or after July 1, 1971, and equipped with a sleeper berth must be equipped with a means of preventing ejection of the occupant of the sleeper berth during deceleration of the vehicle. The restraint system must be designed, installed, and maintained to withstand a minimum total force of 6,000 pounds applied toward the front of the vehicle and parallel to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle."