Heard a piece on R4 this evening ref the harm shift & night work can do, I can’t cope with it v well & I found it interesting anyway so though would share it
bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-33638905
Iplayer link-
We might call that day shift 
I saw another “long term study” that concluded that at some point we all die 
It’s burning the candle at both ends that causes the harm when working nights.
Actually sleeping during the day, and treating shift changes like a jet setter treats jet lag - it’s possible to take it all in the stride.
Those who can - do.
Those who can’t - don’t.
Switching from nights to earlies is the hardest of all imho.
You’ve got a day in between of being a zombie, pretty much useless for anything around the house, etc.
Winseer:
You’ve got a day in between of being a zombie, pretty much useless for anything around the house, etc.
I try to be pretty much useless around the house regardless
In to month number 6 of nights and i hate it. I was a new class 1 pass and couldn’t get a start for love nor money until my current job came up. Far from ideal but you gotta do what you gotta do to get experience. I work permanent weekends too so hopefully it will all be worth while in the end when i can find something decent on days again.
Its horses for courses and personal situation at home as well as if you have kids and noise in the morning at home you may not get your sleep out. I have always liked night driving, I had to do shifts on the buses years ago and it did not bother me, on coaches over the continent it did not bother me at all. Here now on class 1 I actually prefer permanent nights but would not like to do shifts where you swap each week. I have to say though that doing Scotland starting at 5pm and getting back to the yard at 6:30/7am for one company I worked on agency was tough especially the A1 leg where the tiredness really hit. I could not wait to see wetherby services just to have a wash, a costa coffee and a little walk around the car park. Only took 20 minutes but that got me back 
I’m the same alder. If I get finished and home for around 4-5am I’m fine, wake up all nice and fresh but anything after 6am seriously knackers me. I’m OK with the driving and don’t nod off but I find it hard to get to sleep, even if its dark winter mornings, and wake up still feeling tired. This morning I didn’t get home til 7am, couldn’t get to sleep, finally nodded off and bagged 5hrs and woke up feeling knackered. Fortunately I know I’m finishing at around 3am tomorrow if the roadwork gods play ball.
Yeah anything over 12 hours night shift for me is tiring now and I have tried to stay clear of it but agencies could not give a flying fig what you are doing as long as they are getting their £3 an hour for doing sweet FA. 
So I am glad to be on a job that usually takes 8 - 10 hours and if I want to earn a bit etc. I can tell the lovely lady in the office and she will give me a Saturday night that is usually covered by an agency driver. It’s not that I can’ handle a 15 hour shift now and then but when the agencies put you with a company I have found the company want you to do it every single night and so by mid week you are groggy and knackered by the end of the week, sod that.
I’ve recently been changed on to a 4 am start time ,up at 3 ,I’m really struggling ,I look at the clock and think I need to go up ,I get up there and look at the clock and its 23.15 ,3 hrs ish to go , I just get more agitated ,the harder I try to sleep the more awake I seem to become ,I came off midnight/ 1 a.m starts as I was becoming a accident waiting to lack of sleep ,this seems as bad .
The odd thing is our lot class 1/2/3/4 a.m starts as days ,and midday ,1/2/3 p.m starts as night 
Done it for just over 2 years and hated every moment of it. I never ate properly slept properly and all for £50 a week extra it really is not worth it and i am so glad to be on days now starting at 5am and finishing by 3pm
I did a good stint on nights. 9pm starts to 6am. Perfect night shifts in my opinion, enjoyed the quiet roads & lack of eyes on you for a good while but jacked it in the end after getting frustrated with being a zombie at the weekends. I also used to suffer from terrible insomnia whenever I had a week off and tried going back to a normal pattern.
Not good for ones health I don’t think, unless you commit to being in a night routine all of the time - but who really wants to do that?
rob22888:
I did a good stint on nights. 9pm starts to 6am. Perfect night shifts in my opinion, enjoyed the quiet roads & lack of eyes on you for a good while but jacked it in the end after getting frustrated with being a zombie at the weekends. I also used to suffer from terrible insomnia whenever I had a week off and tried going back to a normal pattern.Not good for ones health I don’t think, unless you commit to being in a night routine all of the time - but who really wants to do that?
Totally agree i use to Finnish at 6-7am on a Saturday morning come home and sleep for about 4 hrs get up at around 2pm and then eat dinner have a few beers and then start nodding off at 10pm on Saturday night and then up at 6am on a Sunday morning where to body did not quite know where it was and then in bed again about 10pm - midnight and then up early monday just looking at the clock waiting to go to work on a monday night
Went up 8 pm ,could I sleep ,back downstairs ,Mrs made a cup of tea ,try again at 10 p.m ,need to go then as only 5 hrs till 3 ,was alright in the old days when you could catch up in day .
If tramping doesn’t happen soon ,I’ll have to look for night trunking ,or evening run ,these early starts arnt for me
Like I said horses for courses, I can manage most shift patterns apart from alternate days and nights as that screws up my sleep pattern. I can get used to days having to get up at 03:30 but earlier I struggle. This is my ideal job on permanent night, Monday 17:30 - 04:30, Tuesday 17:44 - 12:30, Wednesday 17:30 - 03:00 so far so good loving it, know exactly what I am driving, all equipment already there for me, phone, garmin all built in, Good rest room facilities and FLT drivers help you out doing your curtains when loading so you can get a cuppa tea and read the paper. Got to be a catch though hasn’t there? 