Panama (2-2-3) Rotation Schedule Generator
Per-crew summary
Panama runs on a 14-day cycle: two shifts on, two off, three on, two off, two on, three off. Every block within that cycle tops out at three consecutive shifts — DuPont's longest run is four nights back to back, Panama's longest run is three of anything. That lower ceiling is the main reason Panama is generally considered easier on fatigue than DuPont, even though both average the same 42 hours a week.
The other headline feature is the weekend. Every other cycle, the trailing three-off block lines up with a full three-day weekend on the calendar. Crews who value predictable time off tend to prefer this over DuPont's single long break, because it repeats twice as often even though each one is shorter.
Panama comes in two variants. Fixed keeps a crew permanently on days or permanently on nights — two crews run the day version of the 14-day cycle, two crews run the night version, offset a week apart. Rotating puts every crew through both: the first 14 days follow the cycle on days, the next 14 on nights, for a 28-day cycle before it repeats. Rotating means the night work is shared by everyone; fixed means nobody has to adjust between days and nights at all, at the cost of two crews always working nights.
Because the base cycle is 14 days — exactly two weeks — a fixed-variant Panama crew's schedule realigns to the same weekdays every 14 days; the rotating variant takes the full 28-day cycle to do the same. Panama covers 24/7 with four 12-hour crews, the same structure as every rotation on this site.
Frequently asked questions
Fixed or rotating — which is better for sleep? There is a real trade-off, not a clear winner. Fixed means the two day crews never have to adjust their sleep schedule at all, but the two night crews stay on permanent nights indefinitely. Rotating spreads night work across every crew, but each crew has to readjust its sleep schedule every 14 days.
What's the longest stretch of shifts in a row? Three. The 2-2-3 cycle never asks for more than three consecutive shifts, which is shorter than DuPont's 4-night block.
How often is a Panama crew off a full weekend? Every other cycle — the trailing three-days-off block lines up with a Saturday/Sunday every second time through the 14-day pattern.
Why isn't this just a normal 5-on/2-off week? A 5-on/2-off week only has to cover a single Monday-Friday shift. This page covers a job that needs staff 24 hours a day, every day of the week, from just 4 crews — that constraint is what produces the 2-2-3 pattern instead of an ordinary workweek.