Pitman Schedule Generator

A Pitman schedule is a 12-hour shift rotation that covers 24/7 operations with four crews, two on days and two on nights. Each crew repeats a 14-day cycle of 2 on, 2 off, 3 on, 2 off, 2 on, 3 off, so it works 7 shifts every two weeks and has every other weekend off.

Think of it as two pairs. Crews A and C split the day shift between them: on any date one of them is working and the other is off, and next week they trade places. Crews B and D do the same on nights. So at every hour of every day exactly one crew is on duty, and each crew is on duty half the time.

In the classic form, crews are fixed. A day crew always works days and a night crew always works nights, which is how the generator above starts on this page. Many workplaces instead rotate crews between days and nights, and the Rotating crews switch shows that version, where each crew spends two weeks on days, then two on nights.

The Pitman is also written 2-3-2 and is the same sequence as the 2-2-3 and Panama schedules. We couldn’t find a reliable source for where the name comes from, so we won’t guess.

This is the whole Pitman rotation for all four crews, with fixed day and night crews and day 1 on a Monday. Scroll sideways on a phone to see all 14 days.

The Pitman is a common 12-hour schedule in US police departments. PowerDMS, which makes policy software for law enforcement, calls it “very common in departments throughout Pennsylvania” and notes that it “allows for officers to have every other weekend off.”

For a patrol division, the four crews become four squads. Two day squads alternate the day watch and two night squads alternate the night watch, and each squad can keep its own sergeant. The staffing math is simple: if you need 6 officers on the street at all times, each squad needs 6 officers available on every shift it works, so 24 in total, plus whatever relief you plan for vacations, training and sick days.

A few things departments tend to work out before switching:

• Shift times. For example, 6 AM to 6 PM or 7 AM to 7 PM. Set your own times in the generator and the calendar, pay estimate and calendar file all follow.
• Briefing overlap. Back-to-back 12-hour shifts leave no overlap for roll call. If you need one, it has to come from paid time before or after the shift, or from a separate power shift.
• Fixed or rotating squads. Fixed squads keep officers’ sleep steady, but someone has to hold the night watch long term. Rotating squads share nights evenly and change every two weeks.
• Court dates. If night squad officers have court during the day, scheduling it on their days off avoids cutting into sleep between night shifts.

Use Show to print one squad’s calendar, or download a calendar file so each officer can add their shifts to their phone.

“Modified Pitman” isn’t a separate rotation. We looked for a standard day-by-day sequence under that name and didn’t find one: each source uses it for a different local adjustment to the regular Pitman. The versions we found fall into three groups:

1. Different shift times, such as 6 AM to 6 PM, or start times staggered between squads.
2. Rotating crews, where squads switch between days and nights instead of staying fixed.
3. Extra coverage at peak times, such as an extra shift during the busiest hours on top of the four crews.

The first two are built into the generator: change the shift times, or switch to rotating crews, and the whole calendar updates. The third adds a shift outside the four-crew pattern, so it isn’t something a rotation calendar can show. You can plan that extra shift in our automatic schedule maker, which fills a weekly schedule from your staff’s availability.

If your department uses a “modified Pitman,” ask for the exact sequence and start date instead of relying on the name. Two agencies can use the same label for different schedules.

Every Pitman crew works 84 hours per 14 days, an average of 42 a week. Day and night squads work the same number of hours, but the split between workweeks isn’t the same, because a night shift that starts on Saturday evening finishes in the next Sunday-to-Saturday workweek.

Here is a night squad (crew B) with Sunday-start workweeks:

On paper there’s nothing to compare: the Pitman, the 2-2-3 and the Panama schedule all run the same 14 days of 2 on, 2 off, 3 on, 2 off, 2 on, 3 off, with 12-hour shifts and four crews. What differs is the context each name usually comes with.

A department that says “Pitman” usually means the four-squad team plan, often with fixed day and night squads, which is why this page starts that way. “2-2-3” names the rhythm itself, from one worker’s point of view, and is also used for custody plans between two parents. “Panama” is often used when the crews rotate between days and nights, so our Panama page starts with rotating crews and shows the full four-crew calendar for 28 days.

Whatever it’s called, check the two details that change your life on it: which weekday day 1 falls on, and whether crews stay on days or nights.

Pros

• Every other weekend off, a long one from Friday to Sunday, shared equally between squads.
• Never more than 3 shifts in a row, which limits how long 12-hour fatigue can build.
• Stable teams. With fixed crews, officers work with the same squad and supervisor every shift.
• Steady sleep on fixed crews. Nobody has to switch between days and nights.
• Easy trades. Your partner squad works exactly the shifts you’re off, so swaps are simple to find.

Cons

• Permanent nights for someone. NIOSH advises caution with fixed night shifts, partly because most night workers go back to a daytime routine on their days off, which makes the switch back to nights hard.
• 12-hour shifts. NIOSH guidance favors shorter shifts at night over 12-hour ones, and there’s no overlap between watches without extra paid time.
• Short breaks. Most breaks are 2 days. The longest is 3 days, every other week.
• Days that change every week. Monday and Tuesday are workdays one week and off the next, which complicates childcare and classes.

For a team that wants a long monthly break instead of long weekends, the DuPont schedule is the one to compare. Compare every option on the shift schedule overview.