48/96 Schedule Calendar 2026–2027
The 48/96 schedule is a 24-hour shift rotation: work two 24-hour shifts back to back, then 4 days off, repeating every 6 days. Each crew works 2 of every 6 days, about 121.7 shifts and 2,921 hours a year, or an average of 56 hours a week. Also called: 48 on 96 off (fire departments).
48/96 schedule generator and printable calendar
Day 1 of the cycle is the first shift in the pattern table below. The .ics file adds every shift in the months shown to Google Calendar, Apple Calendar or Outlook; nothing is uploaded. Copy link saves your crew, start date and months in the link. Different pattern or hours? Use the custom shift schedule generator.
The rotation, crew by crew
| Crew | Mo 1 | Tu 2 | We 3 | Th 4 | Fr 5 | Sa 6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew A | 24 h | 24 h | – | – | – | – |
| Crew B | – | – | 24 h | 24 h | – | – |
| Crew C | – | – | – | – | 24 h | 24 h |
Used by many fire departments in the western US. It has the same average hours as 24/48 but fewer commutes: two days on, four days off.
Four days off in every six makes it popular with crews who live far from the station. Two 24-hour shifts back to back add up to 48 hours on duty, which is tiring in a busy house.
Hours and days off
- Cycle length: 6 days
- Shifts per cycle: 2 (24 hours each)
- Average hours per week: 56
- Shifts per year: about 121.7 (2,921 hours)
- Longest run of shifts: 2; longest break: 4 days
Weekly hours and overtime on the 48/96 schedule
Crew A's hours aren't the same every week. Say its cycle starts on Monday, October 5, 2026 and the payroll week runs Sunday through Saturday. Then the 6 weeks before the pattern repeats come to 48, 72, 72, 48, 48 and 48 hours. Federal overtime is time and a half for anything past 40 in a payroll week, which works out to 96 hours of overtime per 6 weeks and about 832 in a year. Move the start of the payroll week, or start the crew on another weekday, and you'll get a different split.
Fire departments often use a longer work period under section 7(k) of the FLSA, anywhere from 7 to 28 days. Over 28 days, a firefighter's overtime starts after 212 hours (171 for police), per 29 CFR 553.230. A 48/96 crew works 8, 9 or 10 shifts in any 28 days, which is 192, 216 or 240 hours.
Crew A gets 3 full weekends off (Saturday and Sunday both free) in those 6 weeks. Taking 2 shifts as vacation in the right spot gives 10 days in a row away from work.
The overtime calculator works out the pay for any single week.
48/96 schedule in Excel or Google Sheets
In Excel or Google Sheets, put crew A's first day in cell B1 and a column of dates from A2 down. This formula in B2, filled down, shows W for a 24-hour shift or a dash for a day off:
=MID("WW----",MOD(A2-$B$1,6)+1,1)
The text in quotes is one character per day of the 6-day cycle. For crew B, which starts 2 days later, subtract 2 more inside the MOD, as in MOD(A2-$B$1-2,6). MOD gives a result from 0 up to 5 in both programs, even for dates before the start date.
48/96 schedule questions
How does the 48/96 schedule work?
Every crew runs the same 6-day cycle (work two 24-hour shifts back to back, then 4 days off, repeating every 6 days). The crews start it on different days, and that's how the site stays covered.
How many hours a week is the 48/96 schedule?
It averages 56 hours a week, since each crew works 2 shifts of 24 hours in every 6 days. Single weeks can come out higher or lower than the average.
How many days a year do you work on a 48/96 schedule?
About 121.7 shifts, which comes to 2,921 hours over a year.
What is the difference between the Pitman, Panama and DuPont schedules?
All three use four crews on 12-hour shifts. Pitman is the 2-2-3 pattern over 14 days with each crew on fixed days or nights; Panama is the same 2-2-3 pattern with crews swapping between days and nights; DuPont is a 28-day cycle that mixes day and night blocks and ends with 7 days off in a row.
Related pages
Cite this page
APA: ClockTotals. (2026, October 15). 48/96 Schedule Calendar 2026–2027. https://clocktotals.com/shift-schedule/48-96/
MLA: “48/96 Schedule Calendar 2026–2027.” ClockTotals, 15 Oct. 2026, clocktotals.com/shift-schedule/48-96/.
Link (HTML): <a href="https://clocktotals.com/shift-schedule/48-96/">48/96 Schedule Calendar 2026–2027</a>