Adjusting to the "Night" Shift?

Ya. Up around 0100. Drive as much as i can. I hate days. Hate hate hate days

 

My first OTR company was FFE out of Dallas. They sucked in this department. I can run at night but when you dont know its coming I find that tough. Like arrive at a shipper in Laredo in evening night before unload and sleep ready to unload in morning. THEN YOU GET oh sorry Dave we cant get you out of here there on another load until tonight. Load at 22:00 and rush it to Chicago. I should have rejected or asked to let me Wait and start at 03:00 next morning. UUUHHHHHHH its 110 degrees in a ####ty truckstop. Loud as hell and impossible to sleep. Then drive all night long. That specific load was hands down the most tiring I ever had.

 

Thanks everyone. I'm on my first week. Did gas for 3 years day shift now on oil at night. 2800 miles this week but home every night. Very tiring but I'll take that check every week that more than covers the rent.

 

I've been doing that for a long time. Are you a morning person or night owl? Night owls should stay up later and later. Morning-ers, should get up earlier and earlier until you achieve the schedule. You have to ignore EVERYTHING else until you achieve the schedule. Typically you don't get a long time to adapt. If you are lucky you get one weekend and by next weekend you are trying to be "normal" and then start the week on your vampire schedule.

The options are to either maintain your night schedule, no matter what, every day of the week. Another is to skip sleeping the day before or the day after your work week. But this causes you to spend most of the next day asleep or come back to work already missing a ton of sleep and then trying to be alert in the middle of the night. You will have to work out your own plan, but anything but strictly maintaining a steady wokr/sleep schedule every day sets you up for falling asleep behind the wheel and health problems like overeating, over drinking coffee, etc. Everybody takes different lengths of time before it feels normal to you. The more you switch back and forth from normal to nighttime the longer it takes.

 

In the Real World theres no adjusting yourself they surprise you with it. Coffee Coffee more Coffee

 

I will give akfisher props for coffee.

I refer to another story I posted when I was 21 and addicted to boxes of caffinee pills. Each one was like 4 cups of coffee go time. 40 pills to a box. Body still shut down on me.

Here is one other thing, if you tried to get to French Vanilla Capacino? (Spelling?) Ive wondered if those things had alcohol in them. We used to get seriously run out on that good stuff around Sheridan WY at the little truckstop there across from the scales. I should do more research, but we both decided to stop that habit.

 

Yeah gotta be careful lol some of that ####s bad for you! Get where youre going and body tired and tired as hell feel like crack head and cant sleep. Horrible. What we do to feed our families.

 

Driving in the night or day is probably one of the most toughest decisions i'll have to make when i start. I like the open roads with no traffic at night but you have less visiablity and animals love to cross the roads at night. And driving through cities and stopping places at night you have to be alert for criminals that start their shift. I always believed the saying "when the sun goes down that's when s#$t goes down" And if you breakdown at night it could be in seedy area and could be many hours before the repair guys show up. Breakdowns in the day get handled much quicker i'm sure. Plus in the day you get to enjoy the scenery and the beautiful sunny warm weather. I think driving at night pretty much alone on the road would get somewhat depressing.

I dunno i will see.

 

My favorite time to starts about 05:00 just before main rush hours so you get a good start and when youre ready to shut down its early enough to find parking but once again not always realistic.

 

Animals. *Smacks forehead. DOH!! dam I knew I forgot something VERY important.

See it's the little #### details that get me like someone told me I share with you.

When you are down along the red river between Texas and Oklahoma the ranch wire fencing is not that great. There will be a 3000 pound BULL grey in color all over matching perfectly the gray single lane or non marked two lane you are using to get somewhere.

You will never see that bull in time to do anything worth a #### to save yourself. Usually someone in a car has hit said bull before you got there.

Another problem in Oklahoma. The sand colored two lane roads conceal tan colored ford taruses and similar Buick perfectly. If they are not running lights you wont see them either.

When you get into a particular area and everyone seems to have a animal gaurd all over the front of the cab, step up your night alert and be watchful for the critters.

Finally in the northeast or great lakes etc. And canada, moose. You do not touch your airhorn. Ever. Never. Never. Never. Wait a while eh?