I am on the east coast and it is sunset by 5PM. I operate in a rural county with street lights few and far in between. Lately I seem to get many offers for 6PM or later. I am of a certain age and on coming headlights blind me, couple that with having to make next day documents drop; I decline these offers. Does anyone have the same challenges?
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@jwillideb Youāve identified a common seasonal modification for many business owners within this business sector . . .
- Earlier Sunset
- Adverse Weather Conditions
- Dangerous Travel (headlights, etc.)
- Road Hazards
FYI: Consider an offer to the hiring entity for you to meet their client at lunchtime in their Office (instead of at their home after work).
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I have had more than a few close calls driving on rural roads at night. I only take close locations after dark
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Thank you I had not considered having a conversation since most offers specify not to change appointment times. I am amused to watch the SS up their offers when no one accepts these late signings.
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@jwillideb Yes, itās interesting to observe . . . 
@jwillideb In my current direct experience, noted within the APP for most of the Signing Order [SO] blast/text message offers, youāll note in the counteroffer Section there are Options to Add a Comment, Alter the Time, etc. 
Just quickly explore the platform & respond.
The hiring entity may be (or may not be) flexible. Worth it just to query, especially when the ābalancing actā takes into account Risks to your Safety . . . 
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Right there with you. The days will get even shorter before the solstice in December. Iāll take early morning but 6pm is about my cut off. There are highways with no lights at all in Eastern Washington. I think there are many notaries who wonāt drive in the dark and thatās why we see so many of them offered.
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Yes, I can definitely relate to the concerns being discussed here about nighttime driving for signing assignments. The safety issues are very real, and Iāve found it necessary to implement similar limitations within my own business practices. As a result, I have now made the decision to no longer accept any assignments that would require me to drive during the evening or nighttime hours.
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Iām in a large metro area (Denver) but its so dark by 5:30 pm here. I too am of a certain age (50) and I am learning me and night driving arenāt really a thing anymore. I am absolutely considering this as I accept orders as this is my first season as a NSA.
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Yes! I only work during business hours (4pm cutoff) and am very glad I made that decision. The younger eyes can have the signings and maybe that also gives the newer notaries a chance for some assignments. Iām happy to pass on those ones.
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Night blindness is real and it worsens as you age. The invention of GPS has made it much easier. Gone are the days I carried a Thomas Brothers map in my lap and a flashlight. Lately Iām starting to develop a sensitivity to those new headlights too. However, for the past year I just tell my car, a Tesla with full self-driving capability, the address and it drives me there even in total darkness. Itās better than taking an UBER to the client. Distance, traffic, darkness and even fuel costs have become irrelevant since I charge my batteries by solar panels from my garage. All I have to do is stay off my phone and pretend Iām watching the road. Itās truly amazing.
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I have noticed the upswing in offer as well.
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Hi, I live on the east coast too, I am in New Hampshire and there are lots of rural areas here, I too am of certain age and the oncoming lights blind me as well! I did my last after business hours assignment Thursday evening it was a 5 hour round trip close to the Canadian border for a 7:00 PM closing. I did not get home until after midnight. I do charge a lot more for assignments like that and I do get my fee, if not I decline But fortunately in the state of New Hampshire, (Iām not aware if other states do this) but someone smart came up with the idea of placing signs on the highway to let the moose and the deer know where they can cross which is somewhat of a help for the ones that can read, but then you have the ones that either do not care or have not learned to read yet that will cross any where they want to and you donāt want to get into a road rage incident with these guys, they are huge. For that reason I will no longer accept signings that far away, and just accept those that are within a reasonable distance from my home. I also will not go out with adverse weather conditions we get here , i,e, snow storms and hurricanes, as I home health care nurse I do not go out to see patients in this weather and I am certainly not going to risk my life to have some papers notarized. Safe travels and Happy Holidays everyone!
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I have been offered $300 to take jobs 3 hours awayā¦I declined. I live in Southern Maryland and the offers are for Marylands Eastern Shore. Whatever location/GPS service these SS use show the distance as 30 or so miles. Which is true if you fly across the Cheseapeake Bay by crow, driving however is a different story, tolls, bridges, deer etc. The juice is not worth the squeeze!
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I too have this as a consideration . I live in rural Arkansas, all the above plus the impaired drivers on curvy steep 2 lane roads just isnāt worth it. I do send back a more agreeable time for me in the āotherā section on replies to orders and explain why
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I live in a major metropolitan area so I tend to get a mix of offers, some in the city and some in the suburbs/country. My major reason for declining late evening/nighttime signings is that I do other types of freelance work during the day (besides loan signings) and, by that time of the evening, I am usually too tuckered out to put on my A game for a late day/evening signing. If I get an offer in my home town for the right price, Iāll make an exception. Otherwise, itās usually a hard no.
Regarding nighttime driving, I guess I got lucky and had to have cataract surgery in my mid-thirties, so my vision is better than of most other folks in their late forties.
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I am of a certain age too. I take bilberry it really makes night driving not a problem. It puts the color back in you eyes so they can adjust to the dark. Try it and let me know.
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I will definitely look into itā¦ thank you!
I was involved in headon collision at 5:15pm 3 miles from home and changed my advertised hours to daylight only and I disregard listing times. Other driver woman mid 60ās on pain pills, not wearing her glasses as stipulated on her drivers license, and had been drinking at local lodge. She was cited for DUI and is still driving. Took me approximately 1 year to recover from that accident ~ damaged eyes, teeth, and debris embedded in my side that had to be surgically removed. Since I had eye surgery see ok at night to drive it is the other people that may have night time driving issues that make me apprehensive. Be safe out there.
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Same here. Add offers in the mountains in the dark. I am also a real estate agent and my company had an office about a mile away, which was convenient. That office closed, so I must decline evening, poor weather, and mountain closings. Cataract surgery helped some. But then, im almost 80.
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