Avoiding Night Hauling....?

I'm the opposite... the more sun / light, the more my eyes hurt. I have hawk eyes in the dark (or cat eyes as the wife says.....like night vision.) That's why there are all of us on the roads at odd hours, i guess... huh?

 

Be ready to drive st night or find another career path.

No way you're going otr and not getting into a situation that keeps you rolling during the day.

Some places are 24 hrs.you might find yourself shutting down during the daylight and running nights for a week.

Can't guarantee u less you go local 9/5 or get a dedicated run.

 

Less traffic is a key for me driving at night. At night visibility is not but get some new or aftermarket head lights and by the way I'm blinded daily, it'd be like driving in the day. I'll share this too. Keep you some sleep aids, some work. Lastly just ask the company do they require night driving. I've always heard or been given a straight answer when it's mentioned. Really it's not bad if your prepared for it. I detest driving at night but I've done it plenty times. It tends to start me to swearing which is embarrassing even to myself. Good luck!

 

I almost never drive all night. If you do long haul cross country runs you can run the hours you want. The shorter run the less options you have because of the delivery time. Pull dry van and those almost never unload at middle of the night. It the reefer trailer going to food places like Sysco or grocery store Distribution Center that unload at 2am.

Take Sysco for example their driver start like 5am so they take delivery like 1am because during the day they are using the docks to load their trucks for the next morning. Some trucking companies like K&B pull refrigerated trailer on short overnight runs from what I hear. But they have a guarantee pay of $1200 a week.

I would go for long haul dry van if you don't want to drive all night or regional van. Then long haul refrigerated if that available. Short haul refrigerated Freightliner would be the ulots of night but also pay the best probably.

Seems like lots of places in Northeast have crazy unload times. Hunts Point in Bronx NY only unload on middle of night. They are delivering that stuff come sunrise to NYC.

 

I'm OTR and I avoid nights whenever possible. 2 months solo and I just ran a night the first time. Usually I prefer to start in the early morning (2-3am) if the load requires meeting to to avoid sleeping in the day. My body can't sleep during the day. Doesn't matter how dark I make my sleeper.

 

Yeah, I do agree with you here Tex. The only thing I would add about the tall tales and casual conversation about lifestyle, are the promises made by the salespeople for the driving schools, and the trucking company recruiters.

Well, everybody's body is different, and reacts differently to various stimulants and stresses. But most people can and do get used to working and sleeping various hours. However, that doesn't mean that it is good for the body, it is not. But you do what you have to do.

 

Had a friend of my kid sister come in the gym and wanted to work out with my group. Thing is, he wanted to do a slacker workout. Well, he didn't want to become really big and muscular.

In the gym 5 minutes, and worried about looking like the Hulk. @Big Don calls it being a "prima donna"...

I have guys new to the OSOW world come up and ask about the money. Yeah, there's money to be made, but the big bucks come after you make a name for yourself. How do you do that? By walking into an office your first day telling everyone where you won't go and what you won't do?

The fastest way to the top of the pile is taking on ALL tough challenges. Many drivers don't like running at night. But the question is, CAN THEY RUN AT NIGHT? That A Game driver, the guy on the top (everyone in the office knows his name, even at a mega carrier, they know the top drivers by name) has his preferences...but EVERYONE knows that he can do ANYTHING that they need done. They're gonna pay this guy why????? Because he can, without a shadow of a doubt, do anything they need done.

I gues I don't understand this whole, prima Donna driver thing, where you, the no name, non driving, don't know nothing rookie wannabe is already demanding top billing. And your buddy, that guy giving you info saying that 'they force you' to do something...if he is a driver, he's not a very good one. OTR, they don't care when you run as long as you run. If they're riding his arse, it's probably because he sucks as a driver.

 

Back when I worked for Knight, they encouraged you NOT to run between midnight and 0500, if possible. But if it was necessary, they never gave me a hard time about it.
If memory serves, there had been a study done, that showed those hours to be the most dangerous times to run. Not necessarily the number of incidents, as much as the seriousness of crashes.

 

Most earthlings body temp drops late night which is when you get the nods and then that moments lapse of attention puts you in deep, just takes a split second.
Here in a 40 mph zone in front of the general store Upsala On

 

When I do have to run out of ND/MT to Minneapolis, or to Dallas/Ft. Worth, I love hitting the cities between midnight and 2am. Its like you have the road to yourself. Sit back, chill, sip on a Red Bull, and listen to the UFO and alien stories on Coast to Coast AM.