at utility use

Thank you for reading this.

I want to download a file during my Internet off peak period and then shut down 
the computer after the file has been downloaded.

I'm attempting to use the at utility like this:

at 03:00 < command_file

To test this, command_file contains echo "test".

at executes but nothing is displayed, I've also tried a known working script 
and it doesn't execute either. What am I missing?

Also, to execute "shutdow -h now" I'm required to enter a password how can I 
avoid this without running at as root? I have edited the sudoers file so that I 
can execute shutdown.
 
-- 
Regards,
Phil