PANAMA ROTATION · FOUR CREW PAIRS
Panama Schedule Generator — 28-Day Crew Rotation
See both 14-day halves of a Panama 2-2-3 roster in one 28-day picture. Compare the day and night lanes as crew pairs swap tours, correct a single date, and examine coverage after every manual change.
This model uses complementary crew pairs. A/B cover one tour while C/D cover the other; in the rotating example both pairs exchange day/night tours after 14 days. The on/off rhythm continues uninterrupted.
INTERACTIVE PANAMA PHASE PLANNER
Plan the on/off wheel and the day/night swap separately.
Choose an anchor and a 28-day phase model. Every date shows all four crews; you can change any crew/date without disturbing the base repeating sequence.
Day lane: A/B · Night lane: C/D
First 14-day work/rest wheel. One crew works in each lane on every base-pattern day.
Day lane: C/D · Night lane: A/B
Optional exchange of day and night tours. The work/off cadence continues without resetting.
The crew-pair lane map: phase one, then phase two
Each 14-day panel displays four crew rows against real dates. Tap any duty or off cell to edit. Drag a duty to a different crew/date cell or use the resize grip to adjust the shift end.
The original 2-2-3 work/off wheel remains fixed. Only date-specific exceptions are changed by editing or dragging. Day/night switching is controlled separately by the tour policy; exact times can always be adjusted in the editor.
The baseline targets exactly one day crew and one night crew on each date. After changes, missing or duplicate duties appear here for operational review; this cannot verify headcount or qualification requirements.
Missing tours and replacement exceptions
One day-duty crew and one night-duty crew per date is the reference model. Extra/missing duties, deliberate leave and training exceptions are reported for human review.
FOUR-CREW TOUR BALANCE
Workload and tour changes by crew
These are gross scheduled hours, not paid time. The phase change is a pattern assumption rather than a fatigue approval; handovers, rest, local rules and actual staffing demand need separate checking.
PANAMA SCHEDULE FAQ
Practical answers for the Panama rotation generator
What is a Panama schedule?
One common definition uses a repeating 14-day 2-2-3 work/rest pattern across four crews working day and night tours. This page models a specified four-crew arrangement and explicitly lets you choose whether the day/night crew pairs exchange tours after fourteen days.
Why does the planner show 28 days when the work/off wheel lasts 14?
A 14-day wheel is enough to describe which dates a crew works. A rotating day/night policy that swaps tours every fourteen days takes 28 days to display both tour phases before the combined model repeats.
Is Panama the same as Pitman or 2-2-3?
Those labels overlap and are not applied consistently across workplaces or published examples. Verify the actual 14-day work/off sequence, crew offsets, anchor date and the day/night switching policy instead of relying on a name.
How many hours are scheduled in a common Panama cycle?
Seven twelve-hour duties total 84 scheduled hours in fourteen days, or 42 hours per week on average over that two-week period. This average does not determine overtime eligibility or the hours of each individual payroll week.
Can I change a single crew shift without changing the whole pattern?
Yes. Click a crew/date cell, edit the duty status or clock times and save the exception. The repeating baseline remains unchanged; you can restore it for that cell later.
Does moving a shift automatically find someone to cover the original duty?
No. Moving a duty makes a specific change and may create a coverage gap. The coverage audit shows missing or double-assigned day/night slots, but it does not find a qualified replacement.
Do leave and training automatically count as shift coverage?
No. Leave is an exception without a Day or Night duty. Training can have scheduled hours but is not counted as staffing coverage for either tour by default.
Can I export night shifts past midnight?
Yes. ICS generation adds the appropriate next-day end date to an overnight time interval. Verify the imported timezone and daylight-saving display in your calendar application.
Are browser autosave and cloud save the same?
No. Autosave keeps the editable draft in the current browser. JSON backs up the complete draft. Cloud save uses a signed-in account and creates a dated snapshot in My Schedules; a full JSON backup is recommended for preserving all local exceptions.
Does the generator certify staffing safety or labor-law compliance?
No. It evaluates a defined rotation, hours and simple tour-count gaps. Approved staffing, competencies, fatigue risk, pay rules, rest periods and legal requirements must be checked independently.
VALIDATION, NOT COMPLIANCE CERTIFICATION
A correct Panama wheel still needs operational checks
A generated schedule can be mathematically correct yet unsuitable for a particular site. Review the actual workweek, overtime policy, breaks, leave, qualifications, handover overlap, transportation time and fatigue. A 14-day tour swap may require extra recovery planning; the tool cannot approve its safety automatically.
Switch tour lanes fortnightly
Crews A/B work the first fortnight on days, the second on nights; C/D do the opposite. The on/off wheel remains identical across both phases.
Keep the same tour
Crews A/B stay on days and C/D on nights. Choose this mode only if it matches the actual site arrangement; the pattern name alone cannot confirm it.
STEP-BY-STEP USER MANUAL
Build, customize and export an editable Panama shift roster
Match the real anchor date
Set “Cycle day 1 / Crew A” to the calendar date corresponding to the first workday of the 2-2-3 wheel. If the team is currently on a different cycle day, move the anchor backward to its true day-1 reference. Confirm the resulting dates against an approved roster; otherwise every generated work/off date will be offset.
Choose a Panama day/night policy
The default example is a rotating 28-day model: the A/B pair initially covers the daytime lane and C/D covers nights, then the pairs exchange tours after 14 days. Fixed-tour mode is available for sites that do not exchange days and nights. The terms Panama, Pitman and 2-2-3 vary between employers; the approved local policy is authoritative.
Check shift start times and length
Enter your day and night starts and select an eight-, ten- or twelve-hour duration. The default example uses 07:00 to 19:00 for days and 19:00 to 07:00 for nights. Night duty crosses midnight; calendar exports preserve its following-day end. A real roster may require separate overlapping handover periods or break decisions.
Review the two-phase board
Inspect the phase cards, then scroll the 14-day crew-by-date panels. Each panel shows Crew A, B, C and D as separate rows with work, off, leave or training chips. Day-duty and night-duty colors make the fortnightly tour switch obvious. Select 14, 28, 42, 56, 84 or 112 days to extend the same underlying rotation.
Click a blank cell or edit a duty
Select any crew and calendar date to change its status to Day, Night, Off, Leave or Training, set exact start and end times, and enter optional notes. Restore base removes only that date-specific change. This keeps later calculated dates independent and makes exceptions easy to audit.
Move or resize one shift
Drag an assigned day/night block to an unoccupied crew/date cell to reassign that duty. The former cell becomes Off for that date. Drag its bottom-right grip up or down to shorten or extend the duty by 15-minute steps; use the editor for accessible exact-time changes on touch devices or keyboards.
Audit both duty lanes after changes
The board counts how many crews have Day duty and how many have Night duty on each date. A zero or multiple count creates an exception alert. An uncovered tour can result from leave, a moved shift or an intentional change that lacks a replacement. The calculation does not know licensed staff, demand forecasts, attendance or statutory staffing needs.
Use workload and tour summaries
Compare gross duty hours, shift counts and leave dates for each crew, especially across a day/night transition. Seven twelve-hour shifts in a 14-day model equal 84 scheduled hours, averaging 42 hours a week over the cycle, but individual weeks differ. Payroll, overtime, fatigue and recovery rules require separate review.
Keep a complete restorable record
The browser saves this tool to its own storage key. Export JSON to preserve every setting and date exception, and import it later to resume editing. CSV lists all crew/date statuses and times; ICS exports dated Day, Night and Training duties. Printing creates a browser-controlled PDF or paper copy.
Share safely and save to your account
Copy setup link shares the anchor, tour policy and clock configuration only; it does not expose your private date exceptions. When signed in via the global website header, Save to My Schedules creates a separate dated snapshot in your existing account workspace. Confirm the saved record with a real login before depending on cross-device access.
PANAMA ROTATION · THE ACTUAL MECHANICS
How four crews cover days and nights on a Panama schedule
A repeating 2-2-3 on/off sequence is not, by itself, a day/night rotation policy. The Panama setup on this page makes both layers transparent. Its illustrative 28-day model allows A/B and C/D to exchange tours after each full fortnight.
The first seven days
Crew A (and Crew C on the other tour) work two dates, rest two dates, then work three. Crews B and D provide the opposite on/off coverage.
The next seven days
The active pair follows the second half of the wheel: two off, two working, then three off. Every crew therefore receives seven work and seven off days each fortnight.
The day/night phase change
The rotating model moves A/B from days to nights after 14 days, and moves C/D from nights to days. Fixed-tour mode keeps their original lanes.
Manage exceptions, not the wheel
Leave, training and replacement duties apply to individual crew/date cells. They do not erase or re-time the rest of the repeating Panama rotation.
FOUR CREWS · TWO FORTNIGHTS · ONE EDITABLE PLAN
Verify the 2-2-3 cycle and the tour exchange before sharing your roster.
DATE-SPECIFIC EXCEPTION