Field Study to Evaluate Driver Fatigue Performance in Air-Inflated Truck Seat Cushions-Subjective Results

Document Number: 2004-01-2650

Date Published: October 2004

Author(s):
Christopher Boggs - Virginia Tech
Mehdi Ahmadian - Virginia Tech

Abstract:
This study reports the subjective results from a project investigating the effectiveness of several newly proposed metrics to compare fatigue performance between two distinct truck seat cushions, specifically standard foam versus air-inflated cushions. We also highlight some of the fundamental differences between air-inflated and foam seat cushion based on driver's perceptions.

Road tests were performed using existing commercial trucks in the daily operations of Averitt Express. A retrofit air-inflated seat cushion was installed in the fleet's trucks, and the drivers were allowed to adjust to the seats over approximately one week. After this adjustment period, twelve drivers rode on both the air-inflated seat cushion and their original foam seat cushion during their regularly scheduled routes. Surveys were collected throughout the test sessions and the truck seats were fitted with instrumentation to capture physical measurements of seat pressure distribution.

File Size: 628K
Product Status: In Stock

Included in: SP-1911

See other papers presented at SAE Commercial Vehicle Engineering Congress & Exhibition, October 2004, Rosemont, IL, USA, Session: Accident Free Driving Part 1 of 2

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