Night Driving Locally

I once drove a feed truck several years ago, night time was part of it. Was not bad after I got to know all the places we delivered to, especially those in the back country. We changed shifts ever week, that is one week days, the next nights. After getting to know where all the places we went to I did not mind night driving, it was nice to come in for another load and no bosses to be around. Plus at night the traffic was a lot less bothersome.

The worse thing was if you had a break down at night time, it took longer for a mechanic to come out.

One very dark night all of a sudden my truck died going around a curve on a two lane highway, lights went out. I could not even see the stripes in the middle of the highway & back them we did not have the white line on the shoulder. Thankfully I did not wreck & got the truck off on the narrow shoulder. The batter cover shorted out the batteries. It was a White truck that was 2 or 3 years old & this was back in the 70's. It was a long await for them to come out bringing some batteries.

 

OP, I do the local night shift deal not too far from your area. Like others have said, it takes some getting used to. Whatever you do.... Do not let them work you daylight one week and nights the next, and swing back and forth. That will dang near kill ya.

As you know, central PA comes with some of its own challenges (amish buggies, cows running loose, etc). In winter, Snowplows are a rare sight after midnight in some areas. Trust me, being stuck on a mountain at 230am in snow isn't fun, especially in a daycab Mack.

After a while, if you find that you like being a vampire, you'll generally hate driving in the daylight (least I do), and you will not really miss the hustle and bustle of the solar powered folks...

 

No I don't work for Wenger Feeds. I've considered them in the past though. They seem to have decent equipment, spec'd about perfect for the job. Pay seems on the low side the last i checked, but that was three years ago. Their Spring Glen mill is about ten minutes from my house. I pull dry bulk tankers hauling cement, mostly between Allentown and Harrisburg.

As far as a night schedule messing up weekends, it really doesn't for me. I usually finish my week on Friday around 9-10 am, stay up the rest of the day until around 10pm. I roll outta bed when I feel like it on Saturday (usually 900ish). Go to bed whenever I feel like it Saturday night, then get up at 700 Sunday morning, go to church, come home eat dinner with the family, and retire to the recliner to watch football or whatever until around 5pm. Take nap until 800 then off to work. I still am able to attend my kids school events and soccer games and all that. Pretty boring existence now that I think about it