Night Shift
I have a huge amount of respect for the ladies and gentlemen out there and especially for the ones who pull the night shift. The night shift is never easy and it takes adjustment, perseverance and good judgement to know when to push through the night or to pull the plug and take a nap. However, despite the night shift being so difficult, there are also advantages to driving this shift. I will attempt to incorporate all the information that I have available within this article.
Why are there night drivers?
The first thing that you need to know is that all truck drivers and other commercial vehicle drivers operate under a law called: "The Hours of Service Law". This means that they have 11 hours that they can drive each day with an extra 3 hours for on duty work. They can also split the hours into what is called an 8-2 split which I will explain in a little bit. In a team, truck drivers work their shift and then switch out with another driver, this keeps the truck running for almost a full 22-24 hours every day. As a result one of the team member ends up becoming the night driver and keeping all kinds of weird hours while the other drives during the day. There are also other reasons a driver might be driving at night including:
- an early morning appointment for unloading or loading.
- bad freight area or lane.
- personal choice.
How to get adjusted onto a night schedule:
Adjusting to a night schedule is different for everyone and over time a driver learns what works for him or herself. Here are some different methods I have tried or seen:
Note: This is from personal experience, but relying on stimulants and caffeine does not get you properly switched to a night time schedule.
- Staying up all day and pushing through the first night driving shift (The driver make use of stimulants and or coffee to get through this shift).
- Getting up early in the morning the day before, taking a nap in the afternoon and then driving over night.
- Preparing by staying up the night before hand while they are not driving.
Note: This is from personal experience, but relying on stimulants and caffeine does not get you properly switched to a night time schedule.
Tricks for handling fatigue:
- Taking a nap
- Taking a shower, brushing teeth, eating cereal (habits ingrained into the majority of us for starting the day. It fools the mind into thinking it's morning)
- Stopping and doing some brief exercise
- Radio or XM Radio (keeps the mind busy)
- Opening the window and getting a blast of cold air
- Turning down the temperature in the vehicle (cold temps tend to keep people awake)
- Singing, writing poems
- Get a pet. They'll hang out with you and make you laugh.
- Stimulants
- Coffee
How to know when to pull over
Now the normal rule of thumb given to everyone from the police is if you feel tired pull over and take a nap. If you are driving at night of course your tried, but pulling over is not always necessary. This leaves the question of when should you pull over?
- If your eyes are drooping and your vision is blurry and your mind is fuzzy
- If you have tunnel vision or and zoning out for long spaces of time without occasionally looking at your mirrors.
How to find a place to pull over
One of the main issues with night driving is that if a driver does decide to pull over it is hard to find a place to safely pull over. The truck stops are filled to the brim and the rest areas are over flowing and with funding cuts happening in many States, many rest areas are closed and fall into disrepair; creating even more of a problem. Here are some solutiuons:
- Push through until 3-4am. Many early bird drivers are pulling out for the day and leave plenty of spaces available.
- Try a Mom and Pop truck stop. Depending on the area, these will often have spaces though out the night.
- Many Wal-marts allow truckers to park for a couple of hours to shop (or take a quick nap). Truckers need to be respectful and park out of the way though as not to upset anyone.
- Weigh Stations are usually ignored by truck drivers for their parking value, but I have found nothing is better than a closed weigh station at 1am in the morning.
- On Ramps. Now some states have laws against this, but there are plenty of states that don't. If driver needs to take a nap, some times a spacious on ramp is just what a driver needs.
- Desert Parking. In Arizona, New Mexico and many other areas of the country the desert is solid and flat enough that you can quietly and carefully pull of onto it and park for the night.
How to handle the morning grind after a long driving shift
After a long night of driving many drivers have to deliver or pick up, unfortunately this means being mentally coherent enough to get checked in and if your a flat bed driver being mentally coherent enough to climb on top of your load. I have found that stopping at a truck stop or rest area or sunrise, having some breakfast, brushing my teeth and changing in to fresh clothes used to get me through the rest of the morning grind.Not only did it help make me more coherent, but I was also clean and presentable for dealing with the shippers and receivers.
So what are the good things about the night shift?
As I mentioned earlier in this piece many drivers choose to drive the night shift here are the reasons why:
- There is less traffic at night.
- It is more peaceful.
- It is easier to stop
- Quicker to fuel, eat, use the restroom, etc.
- It's easier to pull on the side of the road to take a break and do some exercise.
So once again, keep safe out there regardless of whether your a day driver or a night driver. If your night driver keep pushing through those long a hard shifts, only you really know when your done for the day.