Occupational noise exposure of operators of heavy trucks

Orange it is.

 

And from the DOT:

How Trucks Affect Traffic Noise

One truck at 55 miles per hour sounds as loud as
28 cars at 55 miles per hour

That was 32 cars in 1980, so I guess trucks got a little quieter.

 

Yeah I'm always rolling up the window, or wishing I had, when a dump truck approaches at high speed or uphill. I think those get well into the 100s on the sound meter.

 

Had to wear my hard hat for that one.

 

So you can't drive with the windows up? I was thinking maybe if a bird flew in there, I'd be covered.

 

Sound engineering, right. I had both windows down with the ear muffs on as I was listening to opera last night. I think it's about the same between muffling the radio as having wind and vehicle noise drown it out as much. Except it's better for the hearing to muffle all of that, in the long run. I can hear myself whisper with them on (or a singer whisper at full volume). It's really a misconception that this would make driving unsafe at all. I've noticed that I feel calmer with them on, so what they say about loud noise raising the heart rate is probably true for me (also didn't get drowsy on a long shift, like I sometimes do, so they may be safer in such a way, I'll have to compare notes on this long term). So far so good.

These are 23 NRR muffs I'm talking about, which are about as big as I'd want to wear, and are suitable for the excess environmental noise in a vehicle (the higher rated ones get to be double the size for less than 10 decibels further reduction, and the ear plugs tend to be higher noise reduction by comparison, and lower key obviously). The cool thing about muffs with a hard hat is that they hold it in place without having to have the suspension head band tightened down, so it's actually more comfortable than a baseball cap with a headlamp, and better in the rain too (of course, I mainly wear it for stooping under trailers, which can be sharp edged, but it could help in the event of an accident as well). I also added reflectors around it which are as bright as a safety vest in the dark, and am being sent a complimentary set of integrated safety glass/shades from 3M to test out, so it serves several purposes for me (except I'm getting that WTF look from everyone, if not questioned directly, well I guess they'll get used to it too, it's just funny to me that people think PPE has to be mandatory to be anywhere near normal behavior). Not trying to sell anyone on this idea, by the way, just saying it makes more sense than it may seem at a glance. I don't know, it's an especially strange situation, as I could be dressed up in full neon from neck to toe (or even throw a hat in there), and it would seem less questionable to others than my wearing this headgear alone. Well, some places require truckers to have a hard hat on the premises, so it isn't just me. I'll take the hit though, no problem.