Save up to 20% with our Annual plans →
Search
USAAUUKESFRBRTHIN
Get Started
Blog

Panama vs DuPont vs Southern Swing: The 12-Hour Showdown

June 10, 2026Shift Patterns

Ask 'what's the best 12-hour schedule?' in any operations forum and three names dominate the answers: the Panama (2-2-3), the DuPont, and — the ringer, since it's actually an 8-hour pattern — the Southern Swing. All three cover 24/7 with four crews at 42 hours a week. They distribute those hours into completely different lives.

Panama: the 2-2-3 rhythm with fortnightly day/night swaps

Try the rotation

Pick a start date to map the rotation onto real weeks. Team A starts the cycle on day 1; the other teams are staggered so cover never drops.

MonTueWedThuFriSatSunMonTueWedThuFriSatSunMonTueWedThuFriSatSunMonTueWedThuFriSatSun
Team ADayDayOffOffDayDayDayOffOffDayDayOffOffOffNightNightOffOffNightNightNightOffOffNightNightOffOffOff
Team BOffOffDayDayOffOffOffNightNightOffOffNightNightNightOffOffNightNightOffOffOffDayDayOffOffDayDayDay
Team CNightNightOffOffNightNightNightOffOffNightNightOffOffOffDayDayOffOffDayDayDayOffOffDayDayOffOffOff
Team DOffOffNightNightOffOffOffDayDayOffOffDayDayDayOffOffDayDayOffOffOffNightNightOffOffNightNightNight
Day = Day shiftNight = Night shiftOff = Day off

Southern Swing: week-long blocks rotating forward through the three shifts

Try the rotation

Pick a start date to map the rotation onto real weeks. Team A starts the cycle on day 1; the other teams are staggered so cover never drops.

MonTueWedThuFriSatSunMonTueWedThuFriSatSunMonTueWedThuFriSatSunMonTueWedThuFriSatSun
Team ADayDayDayDayDayDayDayOffOffEveningEveningEveningEveningEveningEveningEveningOffOffNightNightNightNightNightNightNightOffOffOff
Team BOffOffEveningEveningEveningEveningEveningEveningEveningOffOffNightNightNightNightNightNightNightOffOffOffDayDayDayDayDayDayDay
Team CEveningEveningOffOffNightNightNightNightNightNightNightOffOffOffDayDayDayDayDayDayDayOffOffEveningEveningEveningEveningEvening
Team DNightNightNightNightOffOffOffDayDayDayDayDayDayDayOffOffEveningEveningEveningEveningEveningEveningEveningOffOffNightNightNight
Day = Day shiftEvening = Evening shiftNight = Night shiftOff = Day off

The three-way table

Panama (2-2-3)DuPontSouthern Swing
Shift length12 h12 h8 h
Cycle28 days28 days28 days
Longest run3 shifts4 shifts7 shifts
Best break3-day weekend, every other week7 days, every cycle3 days, once per cycle
WeekendsEvery other one off, guaranteedDrift through the cycleMostly worked, in some form
Night exposure2-3 nights at a timeUp to 4 nights at a time7 nights, one week in four
Commutes per cycle141421

Verdicts by team

Teams that prize weekends → Panama. The alternating guaranteed Fri-Sun is the single most-cited reason crews vote for it, and the max-3 runs keep fatigue moderate. The honest cost: the 2-on/2-off chop never feels settled.

Teams that prize long breaks → DuPont. Nothing else delivers a week off monthly without using leave. The honest cost: the four-night block and a 72-hour week inside every cycle.

Teams doing heavy physical work → Southern Swing. Eight-hour shifts are its whole argument: by hour eight a steelworker is done; hour twelve isn't safe. The honest costs: seven-shift runs, more commutes, and most weekends touched by work.

If none of the three fits cleanly, the field is wider than the famous names — the pattern library has the full set, and the decision framework narrows it fast.

Build this schedule in Tommy

Set the rotation once and Tommy fills the weeks ahead — shift swaps, leave and coverage gaps handled in one place, with your team always seeing the latest version.

Get Started

A smiling man in a white shirt taps on his smartphone, flanked by floating profile and calendar app icons on a pale background.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best 12-hour shift schedule?
For most teams that vote: the Panama/2-2-3, on the strength of guaranteed alternating weekends and short runs. DuPont wins where the monthly 7-day break dominates preferences.
Is Southern Swing a 12-hour schedule?
No — it's the classic 8-hour, four-crew rotation (a week each of days, evenings, nights). It enters this comparison because it solves the same problem with shorter shifts.
Which has the easiest night shifts?
Panama: never more than three nights consecutively, with a fortnight on days in every cycle. DuPont runs four-night blocks; Southern Swing runs a full week of nights.
Do all three really average the same hours?
Yes — 42 hours a week. That's the four-crew constant (168 hours ÷ 4); the patterns differ in shape, not in total.

More Resources

Two paper planes side by side: one gliding along a clean circular path on a calm blue background, the other stuck in a tangled, scribbled flight path on pink

Is your shift rostering software making your team anxious?

World Health Day badge in a layered speech-bubble design, set over a photo of a leafy park with a pond and stone path

World Health Day - What a Healthy Workplace Looks Like

NDIS support worker helping a young woman in a wheelchair with a paper craft activity, with Tommy chat and session time-clock widgets overlaid

How small NDIS providers are growing faster

Get Started

The free scheduling and time tracking app that makes managing your team easy.

Get Started