If your CDL driver job gives you aches and pains, you aren’t alone. Sitting in a cab for about 10 hours a day will definitely impact your body. And it turns out the vibration that truck drivers experience at the wheel does more than hurt. As a recent article in Go By Truck explores, if you have a CDL driver job, the vibration might affect your job performance.

“Whole body vibration” (WBV) results from a truck traveling over a rough surface, the article says.

It can cause sore lower backs, as well as pain in the neck, arms and legs. If the pain is bad enough, it can limit or cut short a driver’s career,” the article states.

A study presented at the 2014 American Conference on Human Vibration examined how whole body vibration affected drivers’ performance. The study featured the Bose Ride active suspension seating system, which uses sensors and electromagnetic motors to greatly reduce vibration.

The limited study concluded, “it appears whole body vibration exposures and the magnitude of them may adversely affect the vigilance of truck drivers and potentially contribute to cognitive fatigue. A 2015 RAND Corp. review of 24 studies found that 18 of them reported “a significant association” between WBV and driver fatigue and sleepiness.

The article also states that CDL truck drivers who used Bose Ride experienced less WBV than those with air-ride seats. After three months, the Bose Ride group reported a 30 percent reduction in lower back pain. A number of carriers are retrofitting their fleets with Bose Ride systems, including R+L Carriers of Wilmington, Ohio.

“The feedback has been great,” said R+L CEO Roby Roberts.

Read the rest of the Go By Truck story here.

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