Do you prefer night or day driving and why?

I prefer nights, but I generally just run out my hours when they're available. If you're the type that you like to run out every minute you can, it's much better. Almost always parking if you shut down after 05:00, and the lack of traffic makes it way easier to trip plan 6-700 miles out.

Downsides are the amount of big trucks veering out of their lane, running with high beams, running an inconsistent speed, etc. I guess the lack of traffic and daylight can cause some drivers to get complacent with doing the basics like a professional. There's also more impaired drivers that can get a little annoying and sketchy on occasion.

One thing to keep in mind is that the scales usually aren't open overnight, but if they are, they're taking it serious. Your weights and equipment should be in line anyways, but there's no closed scale guarantee running overnight. My one and only overweight ticket was at 02:30 on 280 heading into Iowa

 

The only times I prefer driving during the day are the scenic, low traffic states like Montana, Idaho, etc.. I couldn't care less about seeing Indiana in the day time for the 4,765th time though

 

Always drove nights. Did a lot of FedEx when OTR so nights were necessary. Dedicated Walmart always asked for night guys as well. I own my own and home every night and still drive nights. Only thing that sucks since Covid is darn near all eateries close super early.

 

I've done both at different times. There are definite advantages to running overnight. The hardest part of running nights for me is managing the drowsy time around 0200-0600.

I've been running days mostly for the last couple of years, try to roll no later than 0400 and shut down before 1700. This works for almost all of my appointments. I never go east of the Mississippi these days, so the only really terrible rush hours I have to deal with are Houston, DFW, KC, Denver, SLC, Phoenix, Portland, and SoCal. I can usually time it so I can avoid the worst of it, but not always. (Bay Area is awful too but I almost never get loads there.)

And I would say the main thing is whether your appointment times will allow you to run roughly the same sleep schedule consistently. One company dispatched me where I would have to drive days for a couple days, then nights for a few days, then back again. I got tired of it so quick that I was gone from there in three months.

 

I prefer to run at night, I guess I’m largely nocturnal, traffic is light, and the traffic lights are usually green, and, since I’m usually home at least once a day, I can mow the yard when I’m not driving! Can’t do that if you work all day! About the only time I fight sleep is right when the sun is coming up, usually between 5-7, not sure why, and it’s not nearly every morning, but if I get tired, it will be sometime in that couple of hours.

 

I'm a night owl, so I prefer night driving just because that's when my body is naturally awake. But it's also a whole lot easier to find a parking spot you roll into a truck stop at 5:00AM at the same time all the other trucks are rolling out.

Shift differential pay doesn't hurt, either.

 

It’s surprising how much traffic is still out between 2am and 5am in my area. I35 and I10 still roll thick at times. Not like it used to be were after midnight till 6 was really a “free” way. The backroads and farm roads are still pretty vacant but some of the more developed farm roads don’t sleep at night anymore either.

 

Both, really. It would start out "nights", but many times bled over into the wee hours of the afternoon. I'd say, a good 80% of my driving was done at night. Most places I went to, were open nights, and deliver early morning, try and be home by noon, and sleep the rest of the day, if possible. Sleep is probably the biggest problem, and those "squishy" ear plugs work wonders, almost TOO well sometimes. Before these silly HOS rules, we would run around the clock, you had to, to make any money, and deal with compliance later.

 

The first rays of sunlight weaken you, and you don’t know why…

Classic signs of a Vampire Trucker.