Chas:
Bovine excrement springs to mind but I’ll give you the benefit of my doubt & just assume that you’re on a troll mission.
Why is night driving any different, health wise, to day driving?
For the past 20yrs I have been an early riser. Me & the missus are up & about at 4am, even on our days off, we don’t need an alarm clock neither. Our bodies have become accustomed to awaken at this time. My 4am is someone else’s 6.30am.
We are both in bed before 9pm, I’m usually asleep almost immediately but she’ll stay awake if footy is on the telly.
A minority of people who discover we keep these hours consider us ‘not normal’ !
Could you please tell me, in your own words, exactly what is considered ‘normal’?
I’ll help you along a little cos’ I’m quite sure that thinking isn’t one of your strong points.
Normal is what YOU are isn’t it?
Anything different, anything that varies ever so slightly, from the way you live your life to your thought patterns, even the way you look, must be considered ‘not normal’.
Somebody please tell me what ‘normal’ is.
So sad a post…why anyone in their right mind thinks getting up at 4am is anything near normal is beyond me…
Ched:
I’ve only been doing nights for 2 years, I hear lots of people give up after 5 years as it takes it’s toll both physically and mentally. Anyone here who has made it a long term career? And if so any tips?
twenty years out of twenty three on nights easy sleep In the day wife and kids go out to work and school I guard the HOUSE! very simple tip
the biggest con for me was the first shift.
i wouldnt sleep at all...from when i woke up on monday morning,until i got home tuesday,which could have been as late as early afternoon. it was a killer...i tried everything,but i seemed to get worked up by worrying about not having enough sleep..which in turn,would keep me awake :smiling_imp: the worst feeling,was getting the nods in the car on the way to work...then finding out your shift was a biggun :cry: eventually i told the agency i wasnt interested in any start times after 1800
i spent 18 years working permanent nights, i only left as they wanted to change my shifts into days and nights which would be impossible for me… however I am now working perm days, and have done for the last 3-4 years, but personally i would jump at the chance of perm nights, but the missus would kill me!! I rarely got tired on nights, ate sensibly, and always got home by 6am, a hour with the missus and then bed by 730, up at 1pm bit of time to myself and then back to work by 7pm, my sleep was better and i rarely woke up between going to bed and alarm going off… compare that to my day shift in work for 7am, feeling tired, home by 6pm, tea by 7pm falling asleep by 9pm no time to myself ect, weekends i find myself being tired and just sitting around really. compared to my shifts when i would finish at 6am sat morn get a couple of hours kip then up and about actually doing stuff…
in better words I know what shift suit me! and dont need to be told by health guys ect…
I’ve been working nights since 1987 and in my opinion its all in the mind.
My start time is breakfast, lunch time is lunch time and bed time is bed time, the numbers on the clock are exactly that ‘numbers’, just go with the flow and don’t get stressed about it.
Pro’s:- All the muppets, or a significant ammount of 'em are in bed and therefore not cluttering the roads. The work is easier and progresses more smoothly. There is minimal interference from the mis-mangement. The money is slightly better. At our place, we don’t have to tip bins, just drop 'em for the day shift.
Con’s:- Night time road works
Slightly off topic.
Been doing some lates recently. I was amazed at the speed some cars were doing, serious Autobahn stuff - rocking your motor in lane one and they’re in lane three Cars pootling along in the outside lane, not a good mix.
Oh, and the carpet of rats that emerge from the bushes as you walk from the lorry park to the main building at Toddington s/b (near the betting shop/M&S) Never seen so many rats in my life - path was covered
Ched:
No, I promise I’m not trolling. It’s unatural. We have evolved over millions of years to be day time creatures.
No we’re not.
The human eye has more rods (120 million) than cones (7 million) in the retina. Cones are used for colour and therefore day-time vision and rods are for night-time vision.
papermonkey:
Pro’s:- All the muppets, or a significant ammount of 'em are in bed and therefore not cluttering the roads. The work is easier and progresses more smoothly. There is minimal interference from the mis-mangement. The money is slightly better. At our place, we don’t have to tip bins, just drop 'em for the day shift.
Con’s:- Night time road works
I don’t mind the road closures work has to be done, It’s the ridiculous diversions.
Ched:
No, I promise I’m not trolling. It’s unatural. We have evolved over millions of years to be day time creatures.
No we’re not.
The human eye has more rods (120 million) than cones (7 million) in the retina. Cones are used for colour and therefore day-time vision and rods are for night-time vision.
Whist you are correct on the rods/cones ratio that does not mean we have evolved to be night time creatures The rods are also more sensitive to movement … a great evolutionary bonus when swinging through the trees and detecting the movement of potential predators. The cones detect colour which is great for spotting a juicy red apple or green leaves etc.
Also whilst we have more rods than cones that does not mean we are beings of the night. We have poor night vision compared to the cat family for example which is why we use headlights and street lighting and light bulbs at home.
And finally, if we were meant to be night beings dont you think society would revolve around the dark hours instead of day hours? There is a reason most of society operates during the day … because we are day time animals.
Maybe I shouldn’t have given heath reasons in my list of negatives about night work. I was simply starting a list about the pros and cons of night work, but people seem to have got upset about my comments that night work is detrimental to health and have derailed this thread somewhat.
Ian G:
Anything that avoids rush hours is good with me.
Who here chooses to wake up to an alarm clock and sit in traffic? Not me.
That is a definate pro … avoiding rush hour. I drive or cycle to work on empty roads, I drive a lorry on empty roads, I tip when the morning rush hour starts and I loose about 15 minutes driving back during the tail end of the rush hour. Then I drive my car home on empty roads.
Another pro … Witnessing some of the most spectacular sun rises every day during the summer. Also, it’s never too hot during the summer when you work nights. BUT if you do a night(day) out during the summer then it’s too hot to sleep in the cab.
If your social,domestic life can handle it then permanent night work is a good move.I was a baker for many years and started at 4 am as a matter of course.During the night the roads are less busy so you can really eat up the miles if its in your favour to do this.
easy 
sleep In the day 
Cars pootling along in the outside lane, not a good mix.