Night Driving ?

Gasoline operations are generally 24/7. Day shift, Night Shift. My days as a TM with a major auto transporter, we pioneered a day/night local carhaul operation. Getting the drivers to warm up to sharing auto transport equipment was a real trip. And as a sidebar to that, the dealers quickly learned how to generate traffic through their body shops with loads of vehicles dropped at night w/o the driver there to witness the signoff. Boy those were fun times...NOT.

 

I'm not an over-night driver, I'm the kind that will start at 130, maybe 2am, when I can. I like that shift cuz where I drive, I can get into Chicago just before morning rush and grab my load out of town by 9am. And another good thing is, I am done by 3 or 4 in the afternoon, which makes finding a parking spot a breeze.

 

I prefer the grave yard shift...got a foot in the grave and one mashing the foot feed to the floor.

 

I like it at night. Lower profile. Course in my business you learn to reach on the dash and flick the lights off too.

 

I was a linehaul driver for a few years. Linehaul mostly runs nights. P&D does local pickup & delivery, so the work when businesses are open. Usually 8 to 5.

As a linehaul driver, or "the vampires", I woukd have a 9pm bid run. That means I sleep from noon to 18:00, get up and eat, shower, pack a lunch and brew a pot of very, very strong black coffee. Show up at work at 20:00 and walk into the linehaul coordinator's office to pickup my trailer manifests or wait for the dock guys to finish out my trailers so I can get my manifests. Then I look for any hazmat there may be and if so get proper placards. Then out to fire up the day cab, load up my stuff. Then I get a trailer dolly, inspect it, and spot it in front of rear(lightest) trailer. Then go hook lead(heavier) trailer and line it up in front of dolly. Get out abd hook dolly to kead and back it under rear trailer. Hook it all up, inspect trailers, check seal numbers to manifest, padlock trailers, fuel, and be out the gate before 21:00(gate time).

Niw, driving at night is less hectic than day, but, it takes a week or two to adjust your body to the schedule. On weekends off work, it's hard to but still important to keep that night schedule in your body. Hard to do with a social life involved.

That's where strong coffee, 20 minute power naps (precisely) laid across the front two seats, exercise, and Sirius XM channel "Hairnation" will really help you stay employed and living(albeit as a vampire).

Get back to the yard at 07:00, do post trip inspection(really do it, don't just fill out the form and let the next rushed guy find out ge has two flats and an out of date annual) drop trailers and dolly,turn in manifests, logs, and inspection sheet, fuel truck, check fluids, and go home.

Get home by 09:00. Eat food, go to the gym, go home, shower, and be in bed by noon. Then repeat this 5 or 6 nights a week for years, and years, and years....meanwhile your skin is pasty white like a vampire(unless you hit the tanning bed at the gym).

 

It is definitely less stressful at night but I do hate trying to find places in the middle of the boonies with no visibility. I always prefer to get up about 4am before the sun and shower and eat then get done by 4 or 5 so it is easier to find a parking spot. Definitely want to get stopped early in the winter being spots get filled uber fast.

 

Oh yeah, another benefit of night driving... you're ending your shift as the country is beginning theirs.

SO much easier finding a parking spot at 6am than it is 6pm.

 

I can do both. Every once in a while if pulling all nighter I'll stop for an hour and catch a nap. There is something to be said though for parking early like 3 or 4 pm and watch some of the drivers back up.

 

I avoid driving at night.
For me it is very much more stressful, just from not being able to see far enough.

I would much rather put up with more traffic.

Not to mention it is just too hard to find a place to park for a 30 minute break.
Well, unless one wants to be the jerk taking a 30 in the fuel island.

Even so, I usually start my day when it is still dark. I like to get an early start so I can stop while there is still decent parking.
I'd much rather have a good choice of parking spots than end-capping.