Hi there!
I'm an engineering student working on a long-term class project where I need to develop a solution to a common problem in daily life for people in different professions. After a little searching around I decided that I wanted to investigate the trucking industry and see if any of you guys/gals have some Quality of Life or practical issues that you regularly encounter with your job that you think some sort of contraption might be able to solve. Flipping through the forum has already told me that health and posture are some common complaints, given how taxing driving for long periods of time without stopping can be on the body, but I'd like to steer away from that, considering how many people have already attempted solutions to it. If you have any gripes about things falling out of their holders, inconveniences in your trucks' design, or other trucking-specific complaints, please post them here so that I can see them and try to find a way to make your life easier.
Issues with quality of life in a truck?
Discussion in 'Questions To Truckers From The General Public' started by CuriousBetsy52, Sep 15, 2020.
Page 1 of 3
-
-
Trucking Jobs in 30 seconds
Every month 400 people find a job with the help of TruckersReport.
-
A more eco friendly and driver friendly way to heat and cool the cab when the engine is off.
Shanebklyn, Dave_in_AZ, Blue Zombie Trucker and 3 others Thank this. -
-
A portable sink/toilet that actually allows you to wash your hands with clean water.
It has been difficult to find a place to wash your hands and use the bathroom during COVID-19..CuriousBetsy52, LoboSolo and D.Tibbitt Thank this. -
Someway of having super efficient yet sturdy solar array built into the truck would be amazing.Lite bug, Dave_in_AZ and D.Tibbitt Thank this. -
My dream is a sink. It'd be so nice to be able to work with a sink instead of a jug of water. I've considered just making one with a 12v pump and a 6gallon water jug, maybe a second for grey water.Dave_in_AZ, D.Tibbitt and Cattleman84 Thank this. -
I saw a few new Volvo 860s with a shower/toilet/sink combo fitted in to the stock sleeper. However, I assume you lose all the storage on that side.
D.Tibbitt Thanks this. -
Couple different things come to mind.
The biggest factor is that trucking is, by nature, a pretty sedentary job. You sit on your butt most of the time or sit/lay in the sleeper. Yea, some jobs involve physical activity (flatbed, tanker, local deliveries) but most don't. This leads to laziness and many of the other quality of life issues like body aches and pains, poor eating, etc. Gotta be active once in a while, at least get out and walk around.
Food is a big thing, without the equipment to prepare meals and ability to properly store food, many drivers resort to just eating fast food. Laziness causes people to not want to prepare meals even if they can. If you own your truck or your company provides an inverter, you can get around this pretty easily. A slow cooker and/or other appliances, a small fridge or chest freezer, or, more expensive portable freezers.
Posture somewhat depends on the seat and it's position. Gotta get it comfortable. But again, inactivity leads to being sore and stiff and your seating wont change that.
A good mattress is a key thing to good sleep and reduced back pain. Most trucks come with pretty crappy mattresses. Like just a slab of foam.
I think storage can be somewhat of an issue, but that largely depends on how much you want to put in the truck. I pretty much live in my truck so I have it packed full of stuff, it's like a small apartment except for not having a bathroom.D.Tibbitt Thanks this. -
All the inconveniences just take time and imagination to smooth out. There's a large number of creative folks with their own one off inventions in trucking. The sink I mentioned could be some elaborate setup, or a large tupperware container to wash things in.
The biggest issue I foresee is marketing.gentleroger and D.Tibbitt Thank this. -
I would like somebody to make a shower setup for the inside of regular sleepers. It sucks tarping something , getting dirty as heck and the elogs strand u from the truckstop .
Lite bug, Dave_in_AZ, LoneRanger and 1 other person Thank this.
Trucking Jobs in 30 seconds
Every month 400 people find a job with the help of TruckersReport.
Page 1 of 3