I prefer to drive at night. If I could have had the keys to all the stores I used to deliver to, they never would have seen me pass in the night. Night is good. No traffic except trucks, and after about 2:00 AM all of the trucks get out of your way too.

In real life though, stores and warehouses and such are open during daylight hours, so that's when we load or deliver. There's some stuff that runs around the clock, so it really depends on what you're hauling where.

This route I'm on now, I'd cut off my left nut right now to flip the clock by 12 hours and leave at 6:00 PM and get gone at 6:00 AM. No more freaking traffic.

 

I try to do %100 of my driving at night.

IMO the drivers are more professional and there's less traffic.

 

Many moons ago when I was doing the OTR thang I tried to drive only during the grave yard shift, less Aholes out an about for the most part.
Most of the time it was the ideal shift for me. :wink:

 

I dont see the difference between night and day, when it comes to being a professional driver, one is no more "professional" than the other because of the times they drive. Both require a different set of skills.

And any place that excepts loads only at night, isnt going to get a load delivered from me. :wink:

 

Forty years ago, I was able to work jobs that started at midnight, or teams where I had a midnight shift. As I got older, I found jobs that allowed me to be asleep between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m. On one trip, I proved to myself that driving during those hours had become impossible. Quality sleep is move difficult to achieve as we age. Now, I sleep from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m., even on weekends. I would never go back to night shift and my dispatcher knows it.

 

My father passed away in 2005, but though he did not work since 1985 due to his vission, he did not sleep much. He would be up all hours of the night till the last week of his life.

At 44 I am lucky to go to bed around 3, and I am up by 5. Not working at the time, but I just do not sleep much.

 

Another thing that makes a difference for me is I drive all the time zones. I log Eastern Time Zone...which my Company is based out of.
My logbook will say 7am...but on the West Coast...it's still middle of the morning.

 

Yeah, the only good thing about California is that you can gain 2 extra hours of driving. :lol: :P

 

Statistically you're more likely to have an accident at night. Decreased vision equals decreased reaction time. More animals on the road and more impaired drivers. Plus you have to fight against your body's natural sleep patterns (something like from 0200 to 0600 and 1200 to 1600 is when your body's genetics kick in and say 'I want to sleep!')
So I always drove during the day if I could help it. Usually from 0400 up. It made sense for me, YMMV. Now that I got a good local gig it's moot.

 

I do about 99% of my driving during the day. I get up and start rolling sometime between 5 - 6 am. In fact, I've told my dispatcher she better have a pretty damn good reason for me to drive during the night. (To me night means anything after 7 pm) My reasons are:

1. I love to look at the scenery while I'm driving.
2. I hate getting one of the last parking spots in the truck stops.
3. I'm a morning person, not a night late night person
4. A little more traffic doesn't bother me.
5. I can always get to my destination at least by the night before delivery time for the next morning.
6. I've lucked out and only had night time deliveries once in a blue moon.


Basically, one of the great things about driving a truck is that one can drive as they see fit. All you need to really do is get from point A to point B safely (and leagal) other than that, it's your call.

That's my 2 cents.