This section describes the various aspects of a shift used by the scheduler to control the crew's schedule of work on that shift.

By default, the duration of a shift is fixed and defined as the time between its planned start and end date and times. The crew is assumed to start their shift at the planned start time and end it at the planned end time. While typically shifts are shorter than a day, there is no such limitation in the system; they can be set up to any length as the business requires. For example, night shifts could be shorter than day shifts or special day shifts could be longer than regular day shifts.