Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Anybody work a rotating shift?

I’m about to take a transfer at work. Comes with a good pay bump and it’s relatively easy work. But it’s a rotating shift, modified DuPont schedule for whatever that’s worth. 13 workdays a month, half days half nights. I’ve never done anything like this and I’m a little nervous. Anybody else work a schedule like this? Any pointers or anything I need to keep in mind?

I have the flexibility of choosing my shifts, generally 8-4 but we get a 3 week block that consists of a 3-11 and a 1-9 shift. This time of year I swap for the 3-11 a lot because it allows me to get things done before it gets dark. I also like that it's more quiet and the only supervisors are by phone if you need them

I worked a rotating shift was was one month on days, and one month on nights, then back to days etc. It usually took me a couple of day to adjust to the different shifts as far as sleep goes. I was younger then and did not care for it much.

Retired after working this 12 hr shift for years: 4 days starting on Tuesday then 2 off, 3 graveyards-2 off, 3 days-2 off, 4 graveyards-8 off. Rinse and repeat. Greatest shift I ever worked. You actually work 120 more hours per year on this shift (extra pay, imho) Basically we were off half of the year. Combine that with your vacation and that's serious time off. Sounds like your proposed shift is similar.

One of the first jobs I had was at the local Phelps Dodge wire factory. Swing shift........2 days 7-3, 2 days 3-11, 2 days 11-7, and then 2 days off. I didn't know if I was coming or going. Thank goodness I was young and could go without a lot of sleep.

I worked rotating shifts for years. I actually liked midnight shift the best. Buy good black out shades, have a small fan going, silence all the phones helps with the sleep schedule. Never could figure out a good eating schedule.

I worked a rotating shift of 27 days, then 27 nights. Within each of those time periods you were given an 8 hr shift. My favorite shift was nights 10pm to 6am. Go home and sleep and then you had the day to do things. If you could work the system right when you came off your 27 days you could take two days vacation and get 8 days off.

Worked it in the past. Preferred nights actually as others said.

Biggest thing was sleep - getting the family buy off on "when I'm home during the day to sleep - that's it, it isn't that I'm not working and do a list of chores. I need to sleep to be safe at work and come back in 1 piece"

When I was an instructor pilot, we worked alternating early and late weeks. Early week you reported at about 5 am and worked/flew from dawn until about 1 pm. The next week you reported at about 11 am and worked/flew until about 7 pm. I did that for four years and never got into a sleep rhythm. It was brutal.

The week off every month was sure nice, but the short change from days to nights really, really sucked. I was single then so it didn’t really bother me. I wouldn’t want to do it again tho.

Did the rotating Dupont schedule for 9 years. Now I am on a 3 month Monday thru Friday Schedule. Midnights, Swings, and then Days. Blackout curtains and earplugs are what works for me.

I had a long term girlfriend back in the late 90s that worked shifts like that. Her sleep was messed up and I never thought it was healthy for her. I knew other folks that worked at the same place and they always looked worn out. She worked in a control room so not heavy work. She was in her 30s then so pretty young. I guess it depends on the person. She always said the financial benefits of working there outweighed the swing shift issues for her. I never encouraged her to change jobs as she seemed ok with it.

Worked rotating shifts for near 25 years. Week of days, week of middays, week of nights and a week of midnight shifts every 5-6 weeks. It has advantages and disadvantages.

It’s not why I’m disturbed.

My shifts varied, 0500-1300.0600-1400,0700-1500,0800-1600.0900-1700.1200-2000,1300-2100,1400-2200.1500-2300,2230-0630 and 2300-0700
Was a State Trooper form 25 years.

It’s odd. The guys at work who are on shift love it, half your work days the regular 9-5 guys aren’t there so it’s laid back and slow. Plus all the time off. The 9-5 guys all say the shift guys are crazy and there’s no way they’d do it.

I’m in a position where I can take the job and get a 25 percent pay raise or stick to my job now with straight days and have no chance of upward movement in the pay scale. I don’t hardly know what to do other than to give it a shot. Just might be stuck with it until something else on days opens up, could be a few months or could be years.

ETA. It’s always either 0600-1800 or 1800-0600. No other schedules. And never more than 4 days or three nights in a row.

Worked split shifts at two different jobs at the same time. Brutal for a couple of years. 7 to 11, 11 to 3, 3 to 7 and 7 to 11. Young, in debt, too proud to ask for help. A day off of 1 was like a weekend. A day off of both was glorious that one time it happened.

Training yourself to fall asleep quickly at any hour is crucial. If you can't adjust you're screwed.

No way, my sleep would be so jacked up

My uncle worked swing shift for 30 years. It can take it's toll - not just mentally & physically but what is does to your family life. Another item to consider.

My uncle and aunt made it work and raised 3 kids while doing it.

We called it "swing shift". I loved it!
Sat 7a-3p
off 24 hours
Sun-Mon 3p-11p
off 24 hours
Tue-Wed 11p-7a
off 48 hours

Basically, I worked 5 days a week with 4 days off! 😉👍

Swing shifts aren't that great if you have kids imo but lots of people make it work.

Best of luck whatever you decide

Yep. Worked 12 hr. swing shifts for over 41 years. My shift schedule on a monthly level was: Work (days) Tue & Wed 7A - 7:30 P, off Thu & Fri., Work (nights) 7P - 7:30A Sat., Sun., & Mon. Off Tue. & Wed. Work (days) Thu. & Fri. then off Sat., Sun., & Mon. Then (nights) Tue. & Wed. Off Thu. & Fri. Work (days) Sat., Sun., & Mon. So in 28 days we worked 14 (days & nights) and off for 14, off every other weekend & worked every other weekend. Hated night shift...always. Try to keep your bedroom dark, cool, & quiet. Wear ear plugs if you can sleep with them. Try to get a couple hour nap before going in on night shift. Good luck!

I've worked 11-7 and Midnight to 8:00 since 1994. I did have a roughly 4 year 0700-1500 schedule in the middle of that. Been on Midnight to 8 since 2014.

#1 Get used to feeling like crap most of the time. The only time I really feel good is when I'm at work. Sleep is paramount and too much is never enough. Black out your bedroom and turn your phone off or put it on the other side of the house.
#2 Friends and family have to understand that you are not on vacation during normal work hours. Just because you are off work doesn't mean you are the errand boy.
#3 You will develop an ominous foreboding most days that consist of Its daylight and I need to get some sleep because I have to go to work
, tonight!
I tell people that you never get used to night shift, you just kinda get accustomed to its misery and deal with it.

Pluses, very few, but there are some.

No need to take off work for Dr.'s visits, car mechanic visits ...
You can go to the rifle range during the day and not see anyone. Mow the yard during the week and not on the weekend type stuff.

The biggest thing for me at least is to stay on the same schedule.

Night shift is the biggest reason I'm going to retire this year. I am not rich by any means, but I can quit anytime I want to. I like to work and be productive, but I despise night shift. I have zero chance of going to day shift.

Good luck and hope it works out for you.

Been doing it for 30 years. Be prepared to have fuctup sleep patterns.

Worked lots of shift work back in the day. EOWeO, 7on-7off, 14on-14off, 28on-28off, southern swing, reverse southern swing (proven to be the worse rotation there is, and I hated it), 6n3, 8n4, straight days, straight evenings, straight nights.

Not sure what Dupont works now, but they use to work the southern swing. Not bad, but it wasn't my favorite. Of course I preferred straight days, but 7on-7off wasn't bad for rotating shift work.

Hope it works out for you.

I was on rotating shift at Wendys

Spider and Tyrone always be callin in ‘sick’. I was Top Grill.

All types of french benefits

I did in the past.

2 wks of days. Off 2 weeks.
2 wks of nights. Off 2 weeks.

Or

1 week days. Then switch to 1 week nights. Off 2 weeks.


I sleep better in the day. I liked working nights. Peaceful.

But you do get odd looks buying beer @ 7am.

😂😂😂

Worked many different versions over the years. Takes a toll on your body and your family.

The DuPont Schedule absolutely sucks….we worked for a short period of time. There was near mutiny at the plant. We went to 7 and 7, rotating nights and days.

I’ve worked 8 hour rotating, the aforementioned DuPont, and the 7/7. The 7/7 was a great shift…..loved it. I worked it a total of 27+ years …..a great shift, if you like to hunt or do lengthy projects at home. Using 7 days (84 hours of vacation time) can give you 21 days off in one stretch! When I was younger, living in Wyoming with family in Louisiana, I could leave off of my last day shift - drive to Louisiana - spend 4 days visiting family - drive back to Wyoming - and never use a vacation day!

The second worse shift I worked was called EOWEO (every other weekend off) which was a 3/2 - 2/3 rotation nights /days. You could never adapt to any routine, and had minimal time for any activities without using vacation days.

If I had to go back to work…..I’d consider nothing but the 7/7! But, that’s just me! memtb

Yeah, in the USN.... Four on, eight off.....

After twenty-one years in the AF and another as a contractor, I gave that crap up. When I was AF though I liked swing shifts. Swings all but one place was 3-11. In hunting season, I would get up and hunt most mornings and be home in time for a nap/gym and the off to work.

I work a flex schedule now, but got permission to work 9 hour shifts, so I am off every other Friday. Our flex schedule, called maxi-flex, just means we have to be work sometime between 6 am to 9 am and then you are done sometime between 3-6 pm. As long as you work at least 8 hours a day, all is good.

I worked 6 till 6, 14 days on, 7 days off rotation. I loved the night hitch. Drilling all night is pretty cool.

At any job I've ever had, most of the dick heads are on the day shift and the night shift is laid back and guys just get their stuff done.

Worked from 2002 to 2020 week on, week off, two weeks on two off and three weeks on, three off, 12 hour shifts, alternating between days and nights each rotation. Never really minded that. There were a few stints of straight days in there, depending on the job, but most of that time was rotational shifts.

The worst rotational shift I ever worked was at a dairy. We worked 16 hour shifts. Four days on and two off. First four was 0400-2000, next four was 1200-0400 and the third rotation was 2000-1200. After a couple months of that I couldn’t tell you what year it was let alone what day. Six months of that and I bailed for a different job. Little less money but could actually have a life.

Been working it for 31 years, work 2 weeks of days than 2 of nights, 7 to 7, work 24 hours one week and 60 the next, every other weekend off, learn to adapt, always feel tired working nights though. Only working 160 some days a year is nice though. Learn to take micro naps on nights always been beneficial for me.

Spent many days tiptoeing around the house because dad had just worked a 11p-7a. 😖
DON'T wake him up! 😡 ....and he was a light sleeper!!! 😳

I've been on the modified Dupont schedule quite a bit over my career, and always 12hr shifts. Loved the long change. The short flop does suck but you only have one short per cycle. A week off once a month without it hitting your vacation time was worth it.

My advice is to be a little flexible until you find what works for you. My thing is to treat days and nights the same. I eat, goof off, shower and sleep at about the same time regardless of which half the day I'm working. Blackout curtains and either white noise or brown noise are huge. So is melatonin and ashwagahnda(sp?).

I get some funny looks sipping bourbon at 7am sometimes but people judge, and I don't care.

We humans aren't supposed to be up at night.... if it were natural we'd be able to see in the dark like a cat lol.

I've only had to work nights a few times doing highway construction..... when I was younger it sucked but I made it work.... now in my mid 40's I can't do it anymore.... I don't see as good, reaction times aren't as good (we operate heavy equipment), I told the office last year no more..... get someone else.

We rotated days, swing, nights every seven days for 120 days each year for twenty years. That was a little hard on the family.

But not nearly as hard as what we do now. The schedule is supposed to be two shifts, ten hours each, four days/week, rotation every third week.

Instead it had turned into five and six twelves each week to meet increased production demands.

60 to 72 hrs per week, with an occasional 84 hr week tossed in.

Guys at $28/hr making well in excess of $ 100K. Parking lot full of new 4x4 6 pack pickups and high end cars belonging to entry level employees.

Most of them will be bankrupt in six months at 40 hour weeks.

And yes, the spouses get restless, so lots of divorces.

I don't alternate but do work a 2nd shift. 10 hours, 3:30PM-2AM. M-T.

Leaves me from the time I get off at 2AM Friday until I have to be back Monday PM.

I hate sleeping until noon or 1 on weekends so I do getup early at times. I just take a nap at 9 or 10 at night. During the week I get to bed anywhere from 3-6. Sleep all I can without being rushed for work, sometimes 10 hours at a time during the week which is very odd for me.

Maybe for you catch naps when the boy and wife aren't home. If you get a little tired in off times and not much is going catch a nap. Kind of how I do it, from 10 minute power naps to a 2 hour nap if nothing going.

I can get a lot done before work some days. Up by 11 and don't need to leave the house until 3. Sometimes mow half of the yard one day and the rest the next day. Get most of my work done during the week and play on weekends.

Wife works a PT gig in evening so she pretty much carries the same schedule as me. No kids at home.

I work a 5-2 12 hour rotation. 5 on, 5 off, 2 on, 2 off. Swap from days (6a-6p) to nights (6p-6a) every 3 months.

It takes me a day or 2 to get comfortable and as said above Black out curtains and ear plugs help.

I;m 60 still work shift work used to it, was air crewman in the navy.

Longhaul trucking count?
3100 miles/wk in a gutless 55mph truck.
With at least one day off a week?
Worked until I could sleep, slept until I had to go.
Whole different situation that doesn't exist anymore.

Familiar with the Dupont Schedule.
Any company that does it is signaling the value they put on employees.
Commodities to be maximized.
Not humans living a life.

Best shift I've ever worked was 8 10 hour days, 6 off and repeat. 5ish to 3ish.
Always had to work Friday.
Was a driving job and not hours of service legal, but it was great.
After 8 days you were glad to be off.
Having 6 off every other week, I often was happy to go back to work.

I did the rotating shift for 15 months and never again. When you rotate off nights you burn up at a minimum 1-2 day of your off week just trying to get right. Some guys will try and stay up all day hit the bed around 1900. By day 3 you might be back to sleeping normal, now your 7 days off has turned into 4. But by then you ready for days. Yeah that’s why their is pay bump and it’s not worth it. Those shifts are a young man’s game far as I’m concerned. Oh going to nights you stay up until 1-2 a.m in the morning on your off days getting ready for nights. So yeah you lose minimum 2 of your days off cause you are sleeping during the day until 1-2 in the afternoon. Yeah go back and tell them you changed your mind unless they are paying $10-$15 bucks more it’s not worth it. I rather be broke and work straight days. Versus making money and being miserable. You will see about midnight when you are fighting to stay up slamming every make of energy drink on the market.

Did it for less than 24 months and walked away. Worked out a six-week notice trying to help out coworkers.
Was a situation that had total team running shorthanded by three positions. Union. Town and union in grievance, so things were at a stalemate.
And two actives were going through medical issues. They are passed on now.
If someone did not show up for relief, you were forcibly (by law and contract) held over for a double.
After MANY doubles of 2nd and 3rd shifts, (B and C squads) I hit the wall.
The final straw was a hold-over from 2nd, to 3rd, then through entire 1st of the next day. Was on roster for that 2nd but made them call in OT and refused to stay.
Recovery? LOL!

Yep forgot about the 4 hour holds if they are short they ask for volunteers. If you live close by no big deal I guess. I did a couple learned my lesson on why not to do them.

Buy you some light blocking shades for your bedroom, and tell everybody when you are working nights. It is a hard thing for some to get used to, and whomever invented those stupid schedules had a black heart.

I've worked varying shifts my entire adult life (I'm 50) other than the last 2 years where I have been -M-F 7-3. I'm going back to a shift work position partly due to hating M-F. My favorite shifts ever where when I was a flight nurse. 2 24hr shifts a week. Work Sun/Tuesday ine week, them Thu/Sat the next. 8 days off with 16 hrs of OT a pay.