Anyone here working a 3 day/12 hour shift? What kind of job is it?

[rsbennett00]

i don't but my brother is a firefighter and does 24 hours shifts.

works 24 hours, off for 72, rinse and repeat.

The two firefighters in my family are 2 days on, 5 off. Different stations, same city. Sounds like 24/72 is a better way to handle it.

I work 3-4 hours a week but it's never known which hours so I have to be flexible.

 

[yhelothar]

I know a nurse who does 3x12.
I would much prefer to get it done at once rather than spreading it out. Needing to make the commute and dedicate the energy into getting into the zone for work takes a considerable amount of time and effort.

 

[Carson Dyle]

The two firefighters in my family are 2 days on, 5 off. Different stations, same city. Sounds like 24/72 is a better way to handle it.

Why?? Those shifts just means that they're at the firehouse for 48 hours, not that they're awake and performing job duties for for two days straight. Two on, five off sounds a lot more attractive to me.

 

[rsbennett00]

Why?? Those shifts just means that they're at the firehouse for 48 hours, not that they're awake and performing job duties for for two days straight. Two on, five off sounds a lot more attractive to me.

It depends on how many calls they get. Sometimes it's none but sometimes it's non-stop. It's a crap shoot.

 

[postmortemIA]

I've noticed that most of aged employees struggle to be productive beyond 8 hours. These long hours will take their toll someday.

 

[Meghan54]

When I was actively working as an RN, I did 2x12hr shifts, get paid for 40 hrs., but it was only if you worked weekends. The difference in pay between 5x8hr. shifts during the weekdays and 2x12hr weekend shifts was made up by shift differential & weekend differential & "combat" pay. I valued my 5 days off, but almost dreaded going in on the weekends....was working ER at the time and weekends were fairly horrible.

 

[Brian Stirling]

Hey Brian, check the dates, noob!

Yeah, I didn't reserect this post but I did add my 2 cents. My post was no more noon worthy than yours was.


Brian

 

[Wingznut]

Hey Brian, check the dates, noob!

Yeah, I didn't reserect this post but I did add my 2 cents. My post was no more noon worthy than yours was.

And had that other guy started a new thread, then people would complain that it's a repost. And so goes ATOT...

 

[Gerhardt]

I am a emt and work 3 x 12hours dayshift followed directly by 3 x 12hours nightshift with 3days off. Then start the shift again. Excluding overtime it comes to 72 hours worked every 9 days.

 

[Svnla]

I know a few guys work as firefighters with 3-4 days on, 4-3 days off and they literally live, eat, sleep at their work place. They would not leave and go home until the end of their 3-4 days shift.

A few guys and gals as cops and they do work long hours too but with OT pay.

 

[Fritzo]

My uncle and his son are both firefighters and work a 3 day on, 4 off shift. They make decent money, and both run a lawncare business on their 4 days off. Got freakin' rich doing that.

 

[TallBill]

I work 5 12-13+ hour shifts a week, typically law enforcement although I have several other duties. But I'm military so it's just part of life.

 

[JEDI]

I work 5 12-13+ hour shifts a week, typically law enforcement although I have several other duties. But I'm military so it's just part of life.

wait.. thought u quit the army?
or are you now in the Reserves?

im a contractor.
the 'cops' at my govt agency work 3 x 12 and get paid 40hrs.

I put 'cops' in parenthesis because they are CLUELESS!
most should not be walking around with a gun.

hell, the night capt got the job because he's friends with the chief.
he has no clue what the procedures are if something bad happened.

and why the F do we even need a night capt?!
a lieutenant would suffice given his small staff at night.
1 capt, 1 sgt, 3 officers.
sgt and officer at front desk. 1 patrols the building, 1 patrols the parking garage. the capt is probably asleep at his desk.

the building is mostly empty at nite except for us contractors.

 

[microAmp]

Necro thread.

I use to. When working at Motorola when Motorola was big, working in a fab as an operator. Then AMD as a maintenance technician. Had great schedule there, Sat, Sun, Mon, (Tues) 6a-6p and got 10% shift premium for that. Then as layoffs continue to shrink the company, went to (Tues), Wed, Thurs, Fri 6a-6p. I did start off there on the night weekday shift but when they hired more techs, I asked for the weekend day shift.

Days off as always are awesome, working days was wake up, work, eat, maybe have a couple hours to do whatever then back to sleep.

Current job is 4p-1230a M-F. Never feels like I have enough days off to get things done and have a goof off day too.

 

[JEDIYoda]

I work as a bouncer at a massage parlour!

 

[Red Squirrel]

Still work the same kind of schedule as since I last posted. It's rather randomized, but I work mostly 12h shift and work 40h a week in average. The more 12h shifts I work the more time off I get, so I typically ask for more 12h and more night shift as I prefer those.

The thing with having all this time off though is that it tends to make you lazy, at least that's what I find. I can be off 4 days in a row, and do absolutely nothing for the first 3 then do whatever absolutely needs done (like laundry etc) on the 4th. It's actually kind of terrible. That's totally a self discipline thing though, something I've been working on. Even some hobby stuff, that is suppose to be fun, often goes on the back burner or I'm just not in the mood for it. I almost need to make a list of things I want to do and set a goal to actually get those things done. I had read something on motivation and it said that when you have some kind of check list, it motivates you more because there's a good feeling about checking off something.

 

[BoomerD]

huh...I thought I posted in this a long time ago... :shrug:

about 35+ years ago, I was on a construction project in the middle of bumfuck nowhere, Idaho. (the closest town had a population of 41, county seat was about 1000)

Housing was almost non-existent, RV space was scarce, and the closest towns of any size were 3-4 hours away...making it almost impossible to find housing for workers...so the companies on the job got together and allowed people to work 4-10's for one company, 3-13's for another company, (and of course, being different companies, there was no overtime pay) but it allowed people who wanted to work the opportunity to do so. Lots of construction people "boom" big jobs, staying in RV's or whatever kind of housing they can find...and work every possible hour they can get. Since you're away from family and home, why not work as much as possible?
Even though I had my family with me, I spent about 6 months working two full-time jobs. I made a boat-load of money, then, when the snow started flying and work started to shut down, we got the fuck out of there and went someplace warm for the winter. (western Colorado) When the spring thaw hit the job in Idaho, we went back for one more year, but this time, I worked 6-10's for the same company...and got overtime. (by then, all the roads for the mine were in, the mine had built some man camps for workers to live in, and things relaxed quite a bit.

 

[RockinZ28]

Wish we could do three 13 hour shifts and get paid 40. Would be some mind numbingly long days, but worth it I think. My current job pays well and is insanely easy, but still eats up 5 days of the week. 2 day weekend is not enough time to really go anywhere distant. With four days, could fly somewhere, have an entire two days to explore, then fly back.

I've done 4 10's before and that was pretty nice. Mainly because my foreman at the time would just wait until 30 min after all the 8 hour shift workers left, and then tell me to go home. So 34.5 hours/wk, paid 40 and three days off was pretty nice.

 

[Loop2kil]

All shifts have their pluses and negatives. At age 45 I have literally had almost every hour of the day as a start time and no matter which schedule I currently have, I always miss something about another schedule I had previously. 2nd shift is awesome for sleep and flexibility(ability to get stuff done), but you miss out on all the evening family/friends stuff. 3rd shift is awesome for flexibility and family stuff but holy hell the sleep deprivation is awful( I did this one for several years (1am - 11am).

3x12's are great but you essentially lose out on 3 full days a week and if it alternates to 4x12's the next week that's even worse.

Currently on 5 x 8's (7-4pm)...to me this is pretty good as I can do quite a bit of anything when getting off at 4 and not feel too tied down or tired.

 

[Zeze]

I did this when I was in production support. Man PS is nuts when they impact patients not getting their drugs (cancer drugs, etc)

Well it was actually 4x11~ not 3x12.

Getting every Friday off is great, but my job at that time was such a super-pressure cooker (we had people that had breakdowns & cry), I'd be COMPLETELY worn out each day, only to go back to work again. By the end of third day, I was totally defeated.

And it wasn't like I can just come into work on a blank slate next week. I had to attend a call on the prior night to catch up on all the latest fire drills.

 

[TallBill]

wait.. thought u quit the army?
or are you now in the Reserves?

I've been active again since 2013.

 

[goosebone]

3 - 12 hour days (or nights) sounds great, but they take their toll. I know people that would never swap from the norm 5 - 8 hour day (or night) shift for the tempting 3 - 12 hour shift.
For one... they see what it does to the people that work them.
And second... they like at least some normal functionally to their life.

Working 3 - 12 hour days or nights in a row is very much like one loooooong 72 hour continuous day. You do nothing for three days except work/sleep/work/sleep/work/sleep (if you're lucky). It is one very long stretch. And if you develop other issues, like sleeping or fatigue or attitude changes, or one of multiple health issues, then it can become unbearable.
Especially when working that long term, 3 years or more, and much more so working that during nights.

Most companies set up 12 hour shifts and pay for 40 hours. But is working three long days or nights worth it? And how long might it take to recover when your days off roll around?
If you work 3 - 12 hour days in a row, and more so on nights, your first day off will be basically sleeping. Sleeping most all the day. Trying to shake that spaced out hangover feeling.

And if you develop sleeping problems, then you are really in trouble. Prescription sleeping pills are all way too powerful. You become dependent very fast. After a short time they become less effective, and you need more and more. And the most popular brands prescribed will screw with your brain to the point you totally become another personality. Usually a mean, unhappy, detached from reality, personality. Just google AMBIEN, the most popular sleeping aid, and read all the horror stories.

There is nonsuch thing as using prescription sleeping pills on a temporary basis. That one day or night you skip the pill, you will not be able to sleep one minute. It will be like you drank 50 cups of coffee. Hopelessly wide awake.

Over the counter sleeping pills are just as bad. One day they might work, the next they don't. And regardless, that drugged zombie feeling can easily linger on with you for hours, when you should be awake and alert. There is no such thing as a magic sleeping pill. The side effects can be worse than the feeling of too little sleep.

But I think to work any 3 - 12 hour shift demands a lot of discipline.
Your best bet is to alter your life and try to maintain the same sleeping/waking schedule on your days off as with your days on. Very hard to do if that 12 hour shift is also a night shift. After time, especially a couple years, it becomes depressing having to sleep during the day, and then stay awake all night, when everyone else is asleep. You hardly ever see the sun, or if so, very little of it.

Then comes the real world.... Doctors and dentist just don't do 2am appointments.
If something comes along, appointments, car repairs, meetings, you will really suffer. Imagine if the "day" shift had to get up at 2am to go to an dentist appointment, or take the car in for service, or attend that special work meeting that everyone is required to attend. They just couldn't do it. But YOU, working that 12 hour night shift, YOU will be expected to flip flop you hours to accommodate.

One of the first things you will realize as a 12 hour night shift worker, is how little concern or sympathy those day people have for those night shift people. None!
And that includes your family members too.
I'd love to see those day orientated relatives get up at 2am to go on a family reunion picnic. Nada gona happen. Ever!
But YOU will be expected to party down when it's 2am on your time schedule....

I give working 12 hour shifts about 1 and 1/2 years before it drives you insane, and turns you into a drug dependent brain eating zombie-like walking dead, with no friends or family.

HahAhaha wtf? Really?? Man I worked a 6 day work week 10 years & again for 3 years out of my 43 on this mud ball. I’d give my left nut for a 3 day work schedule. I did have a 4 day work week for 4 years. It was sweet but I worked over 12 on some of those days. I also put in 70 hours regularly on my 6 day work weeks doing 10-14 hrs a day, & when it got super busy I worked 7 days a week & once for 5 weeks straight before a day off. Lol you people are weak minded. Zombie like ? No friends? Sleep your days off. Please give me that 3 day work week. Please

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

HahAhaha wtf? Really?? Man I worked a 6 day work week 10 years & again for 3 years out of my 43 on this mud ball. I’d give my left nut for a 3 day work schedule. I did have a 4 day work week for 4 years. It was sweet but I worked over 12 on some of those days. I also put in 70 hours regularly on my 6 day work weeks doing 10-14 hrs a day, & when it got super busy I worked 7 days a week & once for 5 weeks straight before a day off. Lol you people are weak minded. Zombie like ? No friends? Sleep your days off. Please give me that 3 day work week. Please

Nice necro of a necro.

 

[Gerhardt]

I worked as a paramedic 6x12 hours, 3 days followed by three nights, with 3 days off. It is a tough shift, and the lack off sleep gets to you very fast. The 3 off days just isn't enough to recover.

This would generally, as you can do the maths, come down to 21 working days a month, for which my boss payd normal wages. That is 252 hours normal wages. Anything over would be considered OT.

This comes down to around 63 hour weeks. I would have given anything to work just 3 days a week. The other thing is, on the quiet nights, we are not allowed to sleep at all, or you will be sacked, so the nights really gets long.

I worked in a small village, basically just running granny cases and mvas, so there were quite a few quiet nights.

I found it difficult to cope with, so had to leave the company, but the crews that stay behind continue, because it is an income and work is scarce. So know choice.

Conclusion, overworked and underpaid leads to mental and physical problem and lots off family related stress.

 

[JEDI]

I've been active again since 2013.

U unbanned yet?