ZMP CTLR VOICED CONCERN REGARDING MID NIGHT SHIFT STAFFING STANDARDS AND TFC VOLUME LEVELS EXPERIENCED BECAUSE OF SAME.

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I WAS WORKING A MID SHIFT (XA00 TO XI00). MY AREA ONLY STAFFS 2 CTLRS ON THIS SHIFT FROM XC00 TO XH00. THERE WAS AN AREA OF TSTMS IN A LINE FROM OMAHA; NE; EXTENDING S INTO KANSAS. THIS LINE CONTINUED TO BUILD DURING THE NIGHT UNTIL REACHING AS FAR N AS SIOUX CITY; IA. I WORKED FROM XB45 UNTIL XE30 WITHOUT MUCH IMPACT TO THE AREA. WHEN THE OTHER CTLR CAME IN TO RELIEVE ME; WE LOOKED AT THE MONITOR ALERT NUMBERS (EFFICIENT SECTOR LOADING NUMBERS) AND THEY WERE INDICATING THAT THE SECTOR WAS GOING TO BE YELLOW. I TOOK A SHORT BREAK AND RETURNED TO THE AREA IN 30 MINS AND THE MONITOR ALERT NUMBERS WERE NOW RED INDICATING THAT THE SECTOR WAS GOING TO EXCEED ITS SAFE SECTOR CAPACITY NUMBER. I PROCEEDED TO PLUG IN ON THE RADAR ASSOCIATE POS TO ASSIST THE RADAR CTLR. BY XG00 THE LINE OF TSTMS HAD PUSHED N OF SIOUX CITY; IA. THE ACFT THAT NORMALLY FLY OVER OMAHA; NE; TO POINTS E; WERE NOW BEING FORCED TO FLY N AROUND THE AREA OF TSTMS. AT THE PEAK OF THE TFC LOAD THE RADAR CTLR HAD OVER 25 ACFT ON FREQ. THE MAJORITY OF THESE ACFT WERE DEVIATING AROUND THE LINE OF TSTMS ADDING TO THE COMPLEXITY OF AN ALREADY OVERLOADED SECTOR. THIS CONTINUED FOR NEARLY 1 HR. THE MONITOR ALERT NUMBER FOR THE SECTOR IS 15. DURING NORMAL DAYTIME OPS THIS TFC LOAD WOULD NEVER BE ALLOWED TO BE WORKED BY 2 CTLRS. THE SECTOR THAT THE RADAR CTLR AND I WORKED THAT NIGHT CAN BE BROKEN UP INTO 6 SECTORS DURING THE DAY. THE SUPVR/OMIC TOOK NO ACTION TO ASSIST US BEFORE OR AFTER THE SECTOR BECAME SATURATED. IN FACT; HE SEEMED UNAWARE OF OUR SITUATION UNTIL WELL AFTER THE TFC HAD REACHED PEAK LEVELS. MONITOR ALERT NUMBERS ARE DYNAMIC NUMBERS AND SHOULD BE ADJUSTED DOWNWARDS WHEN SECTOR EFFICIENCIES ARE REDUCED. AN EXAMPLE OF THIS WOULD BE WHEN ACFT ARE DEVIATING FOR WX. THESE ALERTS ARE ALSO TO BE ACKNOWLEDGED AND RESPONDED TO WHEN THEY OCCUR BY THE SUPVR/OMIC. THIS DID NOT HAPPEN. 3 YRS AGO; OUR MGR ARBITRARILY REDUCED OUR STAFFING ON THE MID-SHIFT FROM 3 CTLRS TO 2. WE BELIEVE THAT THEY WERE HAVING TROUBLE STAFFING THE SHIFTS DURING THE DAY. IF WE WOULD HAVE HAD 3 CTLRS ON THIS NIGHT IT WOULD HAVE GIVEN US THE ABILITY TO SPLIT THE SECTOR AND HAVE A RADAR ASSOCIATE FLOAT BTWN THE 2 SECTORS ASSISTING EITHER RADAR CTLR. THIS WOULD HAVE PROVIDED A MORE STABLE AND WORKABLE SITUATION.