trying something new

Howdy all, been driving for eight months now and recently out of necessity been shutting down early and running at night (midnight) and i have to say i love it, the roads are clear, its never an issue to find parking, plus I'm able to run more miles, so overall my point is as a new driver i was apprehensive about running nights but now love it, you should try it!

 

Same here; try at all times to run nights. Lights inside truck dim, hot thermos of coffee, XM radio; nothing like it.

 

After 10 years of it, it'll lose its lustre, son. I'm 32 knockouts, 10 wins, 7 draws with the sandman . . .

But - can you imagine the reduction in congestion if even 30% of the drivers did the same? 4 wheelers included?

Its never an issue to find parking? Sir, I beg to differ with you. Only if you make it through to 9 am.

 

It lost it's luster for me at about 28 yrs.

 

There are certainly some very good points about running at night, but just make sure you keep your eyes open and aware of those critter eyes on the roadside looking back at you... before you know it, that stupid deer/elk will attempt to cross the road right in front of your rig. Needless to say, that puts a damper on the night.

 

Uh oh....sounds like he's turning into a Vampire Trucker. Good way to make money by running maximum miles. There ARE dangers involved.

1. 4 legged travellers
2. drunks
3. sunrise
4. road construction****

Springtime is upon us. There will be quite a few states that will do their construction projects, AND CLOSE THE ROAD at night.If done right, you have a simple detour. Done wrong, you have a vampire killing HUGE backups! PITA! Do your homework and check the roads before you start driving.

There are certain areas that you dont want to drive through at night. First one that comes to mind is all that area around Del Rio, Texas. There has to be billions of deer across there. Not like the big monsters of the Dakotas and Montana, but billions of them. Odds are pretty good you will hit one at night. And theres also the wild pigs and goats.

One thing that will help you is to have vampire friends that you can call and talk to. Or holler at a largecar on the CB when you see one. Give him a road report and he will holler back.

I drive at night when I am empty. I will set the 30 minute break right around sunrise. When i see the first rays of sunshine, I start to fade. I have to pull over and catch a nap. 15 minute nap, then get out and walk around.

 

I personally prefer to drive at night, but it ruins my weekend off because I sleep all day Saturday and then prepare for the next week on Sunday.

 

I usually shut down at about 10 or eleven, definitely easier then shutting down at 8 pm

 

Flash, I think you've clued in to one of the best ways to boost your paycheck by boosting your miles. Definitely it's much smoother sailing at night. When running solo I typically like to start at midnight and park for a 10 by noon or by 2 when there's plenty of parking spaces available. Running through major metro areas at night at the speed limit versus crawling in traffic is huge for saving hours on your 70.

Regarding the issue of construction zones, as mentioned by TripleSix, it runs both ways. For example the I-40 in Arkansas is MUCH MUCH easier to run at night, with no backup and cruising along with almost no traffic, versus 5-10 mile backups to get into the single lane of traffic and then crawling at 30 mph for miles.

In a 62 mph truck I can get about 580-600 miles during daytime driving. At night getting 630-660 is fairly standard on long hauls. Right now I'm the vampire driver (6 pm to 6 am) on a team and I'm very disappointed if I don't log at least 640 miles.

 

I learned last nite to check states road closures. Got going the wrong way on US 30 in Penn from a get off the road we're blowing up a bridge scheduled road closure.
Also learned to check tolls... Il to Va like $60 and for only 2 axles... sheese..

I also learned I need to learn how and when to shift.. the old Detroit we're in is nothing like the Freightliner or Volvo Cummins I drove before ( ok, a whole 6 mos, but...)
Mary