Occupational noise exposure of operators of heavy trucks

I kinda hate to admit it, but I spent a lot of time as a kid with loud stereos. Big subwoofers. Felt real good, impressed all my friends, girls loved it, but terrible on the eardrums. I eventually "grew up" and had kids of my own.

Fast forward a few years: my son was old enough to get interested in the same stuff. I was single at the time. Saw an opportunity for a project that he and I could do together as a father/son deal. He wanted to compete in the stereo competitions, and I had this old Honda Civic. So we went to work. Built a big system in that car. Won some local shows. Started traveling with it and won everywhere we went. Got invited to national finals, and won there as well. It was loud. And I'm sure my hearing has paid the price.

But I don't regret it. Made memories with him that summer that cannot be replaced. Taught him that hard work pays off. He was 13 then, and growing up fast.

Now I drive a straight-piped W900 with an N14. Jakes are brutal with the window down. I keep them up as much as possible, and stuff some ear plugs in. I can still hear what I need to hear, but at a much lower level. Rarely use the jakes anyway. I don't run in the mountains.

It works for me.

 

the turbo on my old 91 will give me a headache in less than 30 mins with the window down. The ac condenser blew a hole in GA Tuesday and it was close to 90 deg out, drove a bit over 900 miles with the windows down. Been home for close to 8 hours and I can still hear it =/

 

Sound like this one?

 

Fought in Iraq and Afghanistan. Driving a truck and worrying bout a little diesel noise. Soon they will choke the engines with sound reducing exhaust, inoperable window controls, and sound limiting radios! This country is turning into ####! Need less latte drinkers and more tough men. Lol! Infidel up and eat bacon!

 

Yes but the video does not do justice to how loud it actually is. Pipes are right out the window and I can't run tall stacks because I load in some pretty low facilities.
Gotta keep that window up if I'm gonna run the jakes.

It does sound real mean, and there are times I like it. But need to take the edge off so I can use the Jake in town if I need to without disturbing the peace.

One thing it's good for is getting slow traffic out of the hammer lane. You know, the mini van that wants to get next to a governed truck and then match their speed for miles, which is usually well below the speed limit.

 

Lol, well, since blowing stuff up tends to "take the edge off" of other loud noises, I can understand your perspective!

However some of us want to be able to hear other things as well, so it is not weakness but planning ahead that gets us to want to take care of our ears a little.

A little secret...
Most sound guys for ear bleeding rock concerts? Ya... They use hearing protection...

 

For my part of the fashion show, this what I use.

 

These are much cheaper, more comfortable, more efective. They are available at Amazon, Walmart, grocery stores.
https://www.amazon.com/Hearos-Plugs-Xtreme-Protection-pairs/dp/B000NP79YM