Free shift pattern calendars and schedules

Pitman Schedule

Pick a start date to see the Pitman 2-2-3 pattern for four crews on a calendar, with hours per week and a calendar file to download.

This Pitman schedule tool lays out a 14-day rotating shift pattern for four fixed crews, A, B, C and D, each working 12-hour shifts. It shows each crew’s days on and off, its weekly hours, and whether day and night shifts are covered at all times. The tool runs in your browser, is free, and needs no sign-up.

Choose a start date and the crews you want to see, and the results appear on the page. You can also download a crew’s work days as a calendar file. Use the tool to check a pattern before you plan around it, and compare the figures with your own agreement or local rules.

Pitman schedule example

How to use the Pitman Schedule

  1. Set the start date. The default is 2026-10-05, which is a Monday.
  2. Choose how many months the calendar should cover.
  3. Pick a crew (A, B, C or D) from the crew selector, or choose All crews.
  4. If your shifts do not run 07:00 to 19:00 (day) and 19:00 to 07:00 (night), type your own times. A warning appears if the times you enter do not last 12 hours.
  5. Read the result: cycle length, days worked and off, hours per cycle, average hours per week, most hours in any 7 consecutive days, longest runs of work days and days off, weekends fully off, and whether every day is covered.
  6. Click Download .ics to get a calendar file with one timed event for each work day of the chosen crew. With All crews selected, there is one button per crew.

Copy link copies the page address, which stores every input in the ?s= part of the URL, so the same schedule reopens later or can be sent to someone else. To keep a printed copy, use your browser’s print dialog and choose Save as PDF.

The presets load other starting views, and Reset returns to the starting example. The cycle table under the calendar lists all 14 days of the pattern.

What is a Pitman schedule?

A Pitman schedule is a rotating shift pattern in which a fixed group of crews shares day and night work over a repeating cycle. The version on this page is the 2-2-3 pattern, which is a common textbook arrangement built on four fixed crews. In each 14-day cycle, a crew works 2 days, is off 2, works 3, is off 2, works 2, and is off 3. That gives 7 work days and 7 days off, and the pattern repeats every 14 days.

Crew A works day shifts on cycle days 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 10 and 11, which is the pattern D D O O D D D O O D D O O O (D is day, O is off). Crew B follows the same day pattern starting 7 days later. Crew C works crew A’s pattern as night shifts, and crew D works crew B’s pattern as night shifts. Because one day crew and one night crew are on duty every day of the cycle, the four crews cover days and nights 24 hours a day.

The hours follow from simple arithmetic. Each crew works 7 shifts of 12 hours, which is 84 hours per 14 days. Averaged over the cycle, that is 84 × 7 ÷ 14 = 42 hours per week. The longest run of work days is 3 and the longest run of days off is 3 for every crew.

Calendar weeks do not all look the same. With the default Monday start, crew A’s weeks alternate between 60 hours (5 shifts) and 24 hours (2 shifts). The most hours in any 7 consecutive days is 60, and the fewest is 24. The weekday the cycle starts on decides how the hours fall within each calendar week.

Here is a worked example. Start on 2026-10-05 with crew A on day shifts. The work days are Oct 5 and 6, Oct 9, 10 and 11, and Oct 14 and 15. The days off are Oct 7 and 8 and Oct 12 and 13. That gives a 14-day cycle with 7 of 14 days worked, 84 hours per cycle, and 42 hours per week on average.

Worked examples

InputResult
Start 2026-10-05, 2 month(s), All crews14 days cycle, 42 h per week on average, 7 of 14 days worked
Start 2026-10-05, 3 month(s), Crew C14 days cycle, 42 h per week on average, 7 of 14 days worked
Start 2027-01-04, 1 month(s), Crew B14 days cycle, 42 h per week on average, 7 of 14 days worked

Calculated by the tool above; open it with the same values to see each step.

Frequently asked questions

Why do my weekly hours change from week to week?

Calendar weeks split the 14-day cycle unevenly, so one week can hold 5 shifts and the next only 2. With the default 2026-10-05 Monday start, crew A’s weeks alternate between 60 and 24 hours. Over the full cycle, the average is still 42 hours per week.

Does crew A get weekends off?

With a Monday start, crew A has one of the two weekends in each 14-day cycle fully off. That means every other weekend is off.

What happens if I type shift times that are not 12 hours long?

The shift times are used only for the calendar file. The hours figures still count each shift as 12 hours, and a warning appears if the times you typed last a different number of hours.

No. The tool only does arithmetic on the pattern and does not apply any working-time, rest or pay rule. Check the pattern against your own agreement and local rules.

Is this tool free, and is anything I type uploaded?

Yes, it is free and needs no account or sign-up. Everything is calculated in your browser, and nothing you type is uploaded.

Can I print it or share it?

Yes. Print / save as PDF prints the page as you see it; choose Save as PDF in the print dialog to keep a file. Copy link copies a page address that stores your inputs, so the same schedule can be reopened later or sent to someone else.