DuPont vs Panama

The trade is strain against recovery

DuPont runs four nights, three off, three days, one off, three nights, three off, four days, then seven days off. That last week is the entire reason the pattern exists, and people who work it will tell you so.

Panama asks for less at any one moment — never more than three shifts in a row — and gives back less at any one moment: three days off, every fortnight, forever.

Four nights in a row

This is the part to be honest about. Four consecutive twelve-hour night shifts is the hardest block in common use, and it arrives twice in every DuPont cycle. Older officers tend to feel it more, and it is the most common reason crews vote a pattern out.

The week off

And this is the part that keeps it. Seven consecutive days is enough to reset a sleep cycle properly, take a holiday, get medical appointments done, or work a solid block of paid duty jobs. Nothing in Panama comes close — three days is a long weekend, not a week.

What your family notices

Panama protects every other weekend, permanently. DuPont does not: the twenty-eight day cycle lands on the same weekdays each time, but your weekends fall wherever the pattern puts them.

For a household with school-age children, that difference usually decides it. For someone who travels, or works a second job in blocks, the week off usually wins.

Full detail on each pattern: DuPont schedule · Panama schedule