Avoiding Night Hauling....?

IKR?!?

 

There are some gigs that will keep you from running nights: Watkins Shephard furniture runs start delivery in the a.m. And generally stop by 5:00 p.m. or earlier. You leave out Sunday or Monday to deliver the next morning or two mornings later.

Backhauls usually work around your schedule. Finish the day at 8:00 pm. Have a backhaul pickup at 8:00 am the next morning. Lots of brokered back hauls with huge pick up windows.

Lots of local jobs are days only, especially construction related deliveries. Local flatbeds around here load in the afternoons. Head out 6:00-6:30 am, maybe do two trips/day. Pay sucks but home by 3:00, 5:00 at the latest.

Or a mail route... I had a great route that left 6:30 am. Ended the day in Connecticut @9:00 pm, turned in queens the next morning and back south. Home by 9:00 pm.

The most important thing I can tell you is DO NOT night drive if you are not confident or able to do it.

I ran a night route for four months and it was the hardest thing I've ever done (12:00 am to 2:00/4:00 pm).

I was eating a lot of Benadryl as soon as my route ended so I could get some sleep.

But some days, I couldn't sleep. And I still had my route to run. Since I didn't want to die or kill others, I changed jobs.

Driving at night you miss heavy traffic but you see LOTS of really tired drivers.

Any home weekly regional job should have you driving mostly days.

 

I prefer to run days. My night vision is terrible. I end up running nights sometimes 3-4 days out of every week. Sometimes I will run from 11pm to 11am and park for 10, then get up and drive at 9pm.

It is what it is. I love money more than I hate night driving. Suck it up.

 

I like running at night! Less traffic,BS and most of the scales are locked up! Just set back and cruise! And you get to about any truck stop and plenty of parking.

 

Well give the OP credit for seeking out such a forum and asking a legitimate question and doing his/her research prior to jumping in, and perhaps prior to spending $3-5k on a school.

For many, there are lots of unknowns about life as a truck driver, as well as a lot of misinformation provided by the entertainment industry and pop culture. Not to mention all of the tall tales we've heard here and there in casual conversation about the lifestyle.

 

That the reason I run mostly nights. If you are pulling into a truck stop at 5-8 am, you are almost guaranteed a parking spot in the front closer to the building and exits and easier to get in and out of.

 

Are you a driver now or just thinking about it?

 

Night time is the only time to run the northeast. Traffic isn't nearly as heavy, but then you have construction to deal with. Then winter comes and it gets really enjoyable for me. Very little construction, and SNOW! I love running in the snow at night. I find it very relaxing when the snow is falling steady at 3am and no traffic around, except the occasional snow plow. But you'd better be able to fend for yourself a bit, especially in the areas I tend to run.

To the OP, when I started driving in 2001, I didn't want to run nights. Until I tried it and realized the benefits. If you're paid by the mile, you'll cover more miles at night, unless you get tired and need to sleep. Which is a struggle I deal with regularly. But I'm much happier, and my blood pressure is perfect. Nearly everyone I know that runs daylight only is on blood pressure meds. Coincidence? I dont know. So, you might wanna reconsider your thoughts a bit on this.

Try it. You may find you like it

 

Been hauling haz tanks almost 5 years and nights are almost guaranteed every week. Delivery or pickup in a big city customer appointment at 8am 2-4 hours of loading/offloading next appointment 6am next day
Bam night driving.

 

I'm totally with you there, man. For sure.