Does size really count? Is "bigger" really "better?" It is if you refuse to give up all the comforts of home just because you're on the road. Just think how nice it would be to wake up, do the necessities of life, shower and cook breakfast before heading off to work — and do it without going outside. That's life for Tom Smith, Don and Chris Cartledge, Mike Ingram and other owners of creature comfort-packed custom sleepers.

But before we meet these drivers who decided to bring "home" onto the road, let's look at how sleeper cabs evolved to their present state of glory. Sleeping compartments were around through most of trucking's first century, but custom sleepers are a relatively recent development. Bunks got their start just about the time trucks started hauling goods between cities. The 1923 White 3-ton had a bunk over the driver's compartment, and a ladder behind the passenger's seat for access. A restored White cab is on display at the Automotive Hall of Fame, Dearborn, Mich.

After World War II and the development of inter-city roads, long-distance trucking and sleepers took off. But factory units were little more than small bunks in cramped boxes.

Cabovers, which predominated the industry east of the Mississippi River, had open access. The rear wall was just moved back to make room for the 30-, 36- or 42-inch mattresses. Conventionals had low, narrow cutouts to access bunk boxes that must have given claustrophobic drivers fits.

Many long-distance trucks had no sleeper compartments at all. Their drivers slept leaning on the steering wheel, or maybe they stayed in one of the truckers' bunkhouses found at early truckstops. These kings of the road would get a 6-by-8 foot room for few dollars a night (a stiff price, compared with the "8-by-12 four-bit room" Roger Miller's "King of the Road" earned with his broom). More often than not, communal plumbing was down the hall, for men only, of course.

Huts to Sleepers

In the early '70s, Northeast Indiana drivers who delivered manufactured housing wanted sleepers for their short-nosed International 4200s and 4300s. They turned to a local maker of roof trusses and farrowing huts (a building where pigs are born). In this humble beginning, today's big gleaming sleepers have their roots.

The first Double Eagle sleepers were 30- and 36-inch units, just big enough for truckers to log bunk time. By 1975, drivers were requesting 48-inch bunks with built-in TVs and cabinets. Later that year, when Kenworth introduced its 60-inch VIT, a 60-inch Double Eagle was loaded with customer features.

"There are few original ideas from us," said Ray Miller, Double Eagle's president. "Most everything we offer is a result of what a customer has asked us to do. We respond to niche needs. Many of them seemed overwhelming at first, but now that we've done so many, they're much easier."

In 1977, Miller created a sensation when the first 84-inch sleeper was introduced. But custom sleepers got their greatest boost when Congress passed the Surface Transportation Assistance Act of 1982. Within a year or so, people realized length laws applied only to trailers; tractors could be any length as long as the trailer did not exceed 48 feet.

When the law passed, most OEM sleepers were only 36 to 42 inches and there were only three or four custom manufacturers. By the mid-1980s, 18 manufacturers routinely exhibited at the Mid-America Trucking Show.

Today, there are only two true custom builders, Double Eagle (219-761-4121) and its rival and neighbor, Indiana Custom Trucks (ICT, 800-800-3244). ICT, maker of Sundowner sleepers, was started in 1990 by former Double Eagle employees. At that time, according to product manager Rod Lantz, ICT's largest sleeper was 108 inches. Since then, the company has made them up to 180 inches.

Family Vehicle

For several years, Tom "Smitty" Smith, Goldsboro, N.C., has been successfully showing his 1990 Peterbilt with its 140-inch ICT sleeper. Besides using the rig to haul Mayflower trailers for Security Storage Co., the only operation he's driven for in his 24 years in trucking, Smitty collects first-place trophies (four at Walcott, five at Waupun).

He bought his first custom sleeper in 1990 to provide some of the conveniences of home, and to get away from the hustle and bustle of truckstops. It was a 106-inch Double Eagle on the 288-inch wheelbase Pete. It was a start, but it didn't provide all that Smitty wanted.

After just a few years, he had the frame stretched to a 315-inch wheelbase, large enough to carry a 140-inch ICT sleeper. With that larger sleeper, Smitty felt comfortable bringing along his sons, Thomas Jr. and Tobias, now 11 and 9 years old, respectively, during their summer school vacation. Previously, Smitty brought his first child, Tom, now 21. His daughter, Tiffany, 13, also used to ride along with the boys when she was younger, but now the teenager says she needs her privacy.

While most children study geography in a classroom, Smitty's have experienced it. When her work schedule allows, his wife Rochelle rides with him, usually to truck shows.

In many ways, a custom sleeper is like a house or a boat. There are always things you want to add or you wish you'd ordered. That's why a year ago, Smitty had his sleeper gutted of everything useable and had a new 140-inch sleeper built, just in time for the 2000 Mid-America Trucking Show.

The newly remodeled unit has a shower with an etched glass door, a toilet, double sink, range top, refrigerator-freezer, drop down bunks, dinette seats and table. The entertainment center has glass panels that allow the remote controls to work and that are set into cherry wood doors that match the truck's other cabinets.

Plan, plan, plan

Don and Chris Cartledge have been driving as a team for eight of Don's 28 years on the road. They're leased to Quad/Graphics and haul mail, magazines and newspaper inserts to post offices or newspapers. If he still drove alone, Don probably would have stuck with a standard OEM layout. But with Chris along, their 114-inch ICT sleeper makes traveling together far more enjoyable. They run usually from Wisconsin to California and backhaul produce or magazine inserts.

Once they decided to go the custom route, they spent nine months speaking to other owners and visiting in at least 50 custom sleepers they saw on the road. They asked everyone what they liked and didn't like about their sleepers, to get ideas for their own.

"A recurring theme," Don said, "was that generators make too much noise and run too long. We wanted a lot of electrically powered appliances, a TV with a track vision satellite system, a two-burner range, a refrigerator-freezer, a great sound system, a shower and a porta-potty.

"Other drivers ran their generators whenever they were stopped," he added, "but we didn't want that. We solved the problem with an inverter.

"We got a number of 110-volt appliances, and ran the others off a deep-cycle battery. After a number of bad choices, we finally settled on the Trace [now marketed by Xantrex under the Truck Power brand]. It allows us to run almost everything off the deep-cycle accessory battery.

"If the battery gets low, the Trace becomes a battery charger when we run the generator," Don said. "It also powers the roof air conditioner. We bring all the batteries up to full charge before going to sleep. It takes under an hour, and then we can sleep with the generator off."

Weight was also a major consideration for the Cartledges, they said, so they decided against a washer-dryer. By eliminating the appliance, and the water it needs, they saved more than 300 pounds.

"We have a large tool box that we use for a hamper," Chris added. "It holds two weeks worth of laundry. It only takes 90 minutes at the laundromats with both of us feeding the machines."

They saved even more weight by spec'ing smart. "The Cat C-12 saves 800 pounds over other engines, and the 10-speed, instead of an 18, saves 300 more," Don said. "We use 40,000-pound rears instead of 46,000-pound. All told, we saved 2,200 pounds, and the new sleeper weighs just 2,600 pounds more than the original Peterbilt UltraSleeper."

"Once we knew what we wanted, we spent a full 10-hour day at ICT just finalizing all the details and picking the options," Don added. "The actual installation, after the unit was built, took 10 calendar days. They didn't just customize the inside, they had to make sure the outside was right, too, like the shape and location of the deck plates." Pizza Parlor

Owners of the larger custom sleepers are often asked by other truckers to give them a peek inside. Many owners are happy to oblige, as long as visitors remember they are guests in someone's home and behave accordingly. Once inside, the guests are often amazed at how many appliances and luxury features can be found in custom sleepers.

Mike Ingram, McHenry, Ill., has a brand-new, 170-inch Double Eagle on his 2000 Kenworth. It sits behind a 38-inch Aerocab, giving Mike a total living area some 208 inches long. In this huge area, he has a Maytag washer-dryer designed for a home, not an RV or truck. It runs on 220 volts, provided by a used generator reconditioned by Double Eagle.

All the other appliances and accessories in the sleeper are powered by a new Double Eagle Gen-Pac generator. It runs a refrigerator-freezer, two televisions, a Cool Pac air conditioner, a flush ceramic cook top, a tracking satellite TV antenna, a microwave and, to satisfy one of Mike's cravings, a pizza oven. He runs his stereo and entertainment center from a Trace inverter so he won't be bothered by any noise from his generator.

If you're ever lucky enough to to be invited into Mike's truck, please take your shoes off. You wouldn't want to scratch his cherry wood plank floor, which matches the woodwork in the rest of the sleeper. While the pizza oven may be unusual, complying with special requests is ordinary for Double Eagle.

Price is always an important consideration, and the main reason why new custom sleeper sales are estimated to be at most 3% of the over-the-road market. But, while custom sleepers have grown more sophisticated and elaborate, factory bunks have also become much nicer.

In part, builders have improved factory sleepers to aid in driver recruitment and retention efforts. Today's drivers spend more time on the road, and they need and want more comfortable quarters. Look for that trend to continue. Those who can afford it and take the time to plan and build a custom sleeper say they'd never go back to smaller bunks. Some owners, like Tom Smith, proudly show their trucks, and often take top prizes.

Others don't have the time or inclination to compete. They just enjoy having all their comforts with them. And, their homes inspire awe even when rain-spattered. Either way, when you see a rig with a custom sleeper, you know there's a highly successful trucker with it.