Best Times To Drive

I would think that 7pm to 5 or 6 am would be the best time to beat traffic no rush hrs . Do most drivers do this shift? Like to hear some feedback of when truckers like to drive. Is this a good idea

Unfortunately the 14 hour rule has really thrown a wrench in the flexibility that drivers would sure love to have.

Back in the day I used to get up between 2:00 a.m. and 3:00 a.m., get a bunch of driving in before anyone else woke up, make my deliveries and pickups, get more driving in, and try to get parked for the day by 5:00 p.m. or 6:00 p.m. before the truck stops filled up. But of course before the 14 hour rule and electronic logs we could pretty much run whenever we wanted to so we had all the flexibility in the world. That was my ideal schedule but of course most of the time it varied quite a bit.

Sure it beats traffic, but then you have night-time fatigue to constantly fight. The only time I'd ever night drive just to avoid traffic would be in NYC.

My favorite times are 0400-1700. The day goes faster the earlier you start, at least for me.

As Daniel mentioned night time fatigue is rough. They call 0300-0500 the dead hours because your body naturally wants to be asleep during tgat time. As a night owl I don't mind driving at night, and shutting down around 0500 does make it easy to find a parking spot in the busier areas as many truckers are starting to roll at that time. I have found night driving for Ore than a week to be a bit hazardous for what I call 2-D driving. It messes with your eyes and your head and you can start seeing some funky things. During the day there is 3-D you see trees and grass, houses and hills etc. at night you see the road in front of you, red taillights of vehicles In Front if you and headlights of the ones coming towards you. Other than that it is often pitch black otherwise. Now, not in the cities where there are street lights, but as a driver most driving is in the sticks and this no lights. Being surrounded by darkness creates a 2-D world and like I said, it can really mess with your head

You can't avoid night driving anymore than you can keep on day driving, your hours, your loads and your shippers / receivers will keep you schedule moving. Mine keeps gravitating towards night though I try to push for sunlight hours where I can.

When and where possible I like to start rolling after 0900, after morning rush hour and park before 2200 where there are still a few spots to park. I also do my pre planning to aim to hit cities either before 1600 or after 1900. It's all about maximizing your time and it all starts with pre planning

At least until you get to that shipper or receiver that takes 6 hours to get you loaded or unloaded. Then your schede is all jacked up again