Is It Better to Drive at Night or in the Day?

by Hervy
(USA)

I love driving at night sometimes. It depends on the hours of the night and what happened prior to driving at night. I don't mind starting in the evening and driving until midnight or 1ish. I don't mind starting around 3a.m. and drive into sunrise continuing for my entire 11 hours.

At night it can be less traffic to deal with which is pleasant. Unless of course, you run into night time construction. (They are doing a lot of that right now on i-85 in South and North Carolina.) When a highway goes down to one lane and everyone, including truckers these days, are trying to ride it out until the end, it can really test your patience. lol.

The air outside sometimes can be refreshing and clean when temps allow the window to be rolled down enough to enjoy it at night.

Also when you want to dip into a truck stop to fuel or take a quick bathroom break, mostly there is not a long line to hold you up.

You do have to be extra cautious about deers depending on where you are. You also have to keep an eye out for intoxicated drivers every now and then. If you see a car weaving either get around quickly or if you can't stay behind. Don't just ride beside someone like that.

Unfortunately, you can't easily choose to run at night just because you prefer it. You have to work with your 14hr clock and deal more with what comes up. Especially if you are on electronic logs.

I read somewhere that our bodies are designed to benefit the most from sleep during the hours between 9pm to 3 am. However, when writing this I tried to find that article and couldn't.

I did find one that stated between 8pm and 12am was optimum times to include in your sleep if you can. The reason stated was because it is when you are actually more likely to experience the deep REM sleep needed to re-energize.

http://time.com/3183183/best-time-to-sleep/

So if you can make that happen and you are the average person that might help you out.

All over the internet you will find that 7 hours of sleep is thought to be a good number of hours for most people. (Based on research)

At the end of the day though, I guess it all balances out. Sometimes night driving is better and sometimes driving in the middle of the day is better.

Just find a reason to enjoy what ever hours you end up having to drive. Next year this time we will all be on ELD's and have little room to chose day or night. You run when your clock says you can. It's more adventure for the trucking lifestyle.

Don't worry, you can handle it!