how did you adjust?

Pretty much what everyone else said. You won't have much of a family life. You'll spend a few hours in the AM when you come in. Maybe catch your kids before they head to school and then your phone goes on mute. Most of your family time will probably be before you head to work.

I think it was hardest on my spouse since she was home by herself all night and then by herself downstairs during the day so I could get some rest. Overall, it wasnt a terrible gig, but I did miss a bunch of things.

 

What type of trucking do you do now?

 

I am a local city driver. I work my eight to twelve hours during the day so I can see my family more.

 

Funny you mention that. When I was a greenhorn linedriver back in '12, I distinctly remember posting "it's nice to have a job where I get off of work while everyone else has to go to work" on my personal Facebook. Crazy how time flies and how things have changed.

 

Sucks too if you get a bad run for the night and are back super early. What’s there to do at 3:30 am? I usually go to the gym but like today I forgot my bag so I woke my wife up when I got home. Can’t sneak in with the dang dog. Good thing about nights are you have Monday mornings to get anything done like dr appointments and stuff like that. Dinner with the family and I can take my son to school. Then there’s times I just rough it on little sleep because something came up. Like Mack said pick your poison. At least with line haul vs city when your back to your yard your done. City, they can send you back out.

But I’ve got another little one on the way and when we had our first kid I had a normal job so this is gonna get interesting with my wife being home during the day 6-10 weeks after I go back to work. We will figure out when the time comes.

 

Some great advice given. Not everyone can do it. I’m 19 years on night linehaul now. If I can offer any advice, it’s if you feel tired, find a spot and pull over. Don’t try and push through it, take a 15 min break. Micro sleep can be deadly.

 

You can condition yourself to working nights, might take a while, just takes a conscious effort.

I was never a line haul driver, but in the 80's I was on a scheduled run for 6 months that was sort of like a line haul, in that every week was the same.
Twice a week I would haul warehouse to warehouse for a department store chain and fresh meat going back home.
I left home with the store goods at 11:00 AM, drove 830 miles for delivery at 4:30 AM the next morning, then at 6:00 PM I would pick up my loaded trailer full of meat at the customer and be back at my home terminal by 8:00 AM the next morning, 830 miles each way.

Took my body a while to get in the rhythm of it, eventually it became a breeze.
Same old tricks, keep the window open for a constant supply of fresh air, stop every 2 or 4 hours for 5 or 10 minutes, stretch the legs, check the lights, tires and etc, do a little stretching, jumping jacks, get the blood flowing, pour a cup of coffee, look at the stars for a bit to get your mind off your work for a few minutes, chew on a slab of beef jerky, whatever it takes to stay alert.

After 6 months I needed a change, familiarity breeds contempt, was hateful and discontented so my boss gave up that run before I punched out the terminal manager at the other end and he let me do my own thing, made me happy again.

If you enjoy music, try to listen to music that puts you in the trucking groove and takes your mind off your troubles.

All the best to ya.

 

I think it's human nature to try to paint our current given situation in the best possible light. When I was a late start city driver I was never home for dinner, and rarely able to hang with the kids before their bedtime. Now all that occurs during my "morning hours." My wife and I really value that time, so we chalk that up as a benefit to me working nights.

I may eventually go back to the city whenever I can hold an early start bid, but for now we're making this work and have gotten into a good groove schedule-wise. I think no matter what your schedule is, it's all in what you make of it.

 

We made it work just fine. I took 2 weeks off using FMLA because I never took any time off when my older boys were born and I wanted to do that this time. It was totally worth it, by the way.

When I went back to work, it was understood that my sleep was essential and non-negotiable. The good thing was that I was fully awake and could actually be supportive in the middle of the night when she was dealing with a crying baby. I'm a pretty heavy sleeper, so I didn’t have any problems being disturbed during the day when my wife was downstairs with the baby. I've always used a white noise machine, so that certainly helped, too.