It’s happened to everyone. After putting a few hundred miles behind you, the drone of your tires and the hum of your engine start to work on you like a lullaby. Without warning, you start battling a wandering mind and heavy eyes.

But as a professional in the freight industry, you know all the tricks to combat getting sleepy behind the wheel. Caffeine, your AC on max blast, and good tunes on the radio help, but a good night’s sleep is always the most important tool in a truck driver’s toolbox.

But how much sleep is enough?

You know what your body needs to get the job done safely, but, as we've reported on before, Washington is pushing more hours-of-service regulations for commercial truck drivers—and many in the trucking industry aren’t happy.

Last week, the American Trucking Association filed a petition with the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia asking for a review of the recently passed Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s “final” rule that changed hours-of-service regulations.

According to a recent Insurance Journal article, “the [American Trucking Association] maintains that the new rules are based on faulty assumptions and research and that any benefits are outweighed by the extra costs they will incur.”

The new hours-of-service rule reduces the maximum number of hours a truck driver can work within a week by 12 hours, bringing a driver’s maximum work week to 70 hours. It also requires a 30-minute off-the-road break within every eight hour period.

Under the old rule, truckers could haul for up to 82 hours within a seven-day period.

So, as the suits battle it out in D.C., we want to know your thoughts on the new 70-hour rule. How will the 12-hour reduction affect your operation? When you are out on a long haul, how much sleep do you need between shifts behind the wheel to keep the shiny side up safely?

Let us know your thoughts by leaving a comment below, or hit us up on Twitter (@getloaded).

As always, we’ll keep you updated with any developments that come out of the fight in Washington, so stay tuned!