Living in a truck cab is not like staying at the Ritz. There are two bunks, and the driver trainee (that’s me) occupies the upper one. Nominally wide enough for normal sleeping purposes, it also provides accomodations for my Spartan luggage, so that the occupiable space might be more accurately described not as a bunk but as a ledge. I am perched upon it now.

‘Perched’ is misleading however, as perching seems to imply a sort of sitting posture. Many bird species, up to say medium-sized raptors, could perch up here without too much difficulty. For a human being, the only possible postures are prone, supine, and whatever fancy term there may be for lying on one’s side. Currently I am supine, with knees raised to form a support for the clipboard on which I write. Between my knees and the roof of the cab is a space of about six inches.

The lower bunk is roomier. For a solo driver, who could fold the top bunk out of the way, it might even be termed adequate.

Enough about the bunks already. The really aggravating thing is the lighting. Almost all of the sleeper berth lights are set behind plastic diffusers that render them just about useless for reading purposes. The only exceptions are the two spot lamps, one for each bunk. Poorly placed and of insufficient wattage (though the housing become hot to the touch within minutes) they just make it possible to read the left-hand page of a book. The right-hand page one, too, if you hold the book just so. This is in the upper berth, which when in the ‘down’ position blocks almost all of the general lighting from reaching the lower one so that there you cannot read any page at all. And it is illegal to occupy the upper bun when the truck is in motion, which explains why in the past month I have read almost nothing.

All of this should better once I graduate to my own truck. I’ll be able to keep the upper bunk folded out of the way, stow my gear in the limited shelf and locker space, come up with some sort of additional lighting. It still won’t be the Ritz but at least I’ll be able to stretch out without bumping into things. As long as I’m careful how I stretch.