In a truck, you must adjust the driver’s seat correctly before you drive off. After all, at most haulage companies not every driver has “his” truck, which he is always allowed to drive. Accordingly, other drivers also adjust the seat to their needs. The individually adjusted sitting position is important so that you do not tense up during the long working day and can react quickly.
You have the following options
If you do not yet know the seat in the truck you will be driving next, take a look at the corresponding manual. If it is no longer available, find a colleague who knows the seat and ask them about any special features of the seat. Depending on the seat, you can make many different adjustments. Pneumatic seats, for example, adapt automatically to the driver’s body weight. With other newer driver seats you can usually adjust
- the seat height
- the seat depth
- the seat inclination
- the backrest
In addition, the backrest contour, shoulder area and seat cushioning can often be adjusted. You can therefore adapt the driver’s seat to your individual needs.
Proceed as follows when adjusting the driver’s seat
First you adjust the seat height and the seat depth. The latter is the length of the seat surface. Drivers with long legs need a longer seat than those with short legs. So adjust both the depth of the seat and its height so that you can comfortably reach the pedals with your feet and push them all the way down without using too much force. There should be around a hand’s width between the back of the knee and the front edge of the seat.
Then lean back and angle the backrest so that you can move the steering wheel with your hands while your arms are slightly but comfortably bent. Make sure that your entire back rests against the backrest from the shoulder blades to the buttocks. If your driver’s seat offers these features, you can now also adjust the shoulder area and backrest contour to make it feel comfortable for you.
The correct seat inclination depends on comfortably reaching the pedals on the one hand and sitting without pressure at the bottom of the thighs on the other. If you feel how the seat edge, which is softly upholstered, constricts the blood circulation in your legs, you should slightly increase the forward tilt of the seat. However, if your thighs are not resting on the seat (except for the hand width space mentioned above), you should shift the inclination backwards until they are.
Above all, adapt the damper to your needs. Some drivers always put it on the softest level, because the bumps from potholes and other small obstacles otherwise cause them back pain. However, the suspension of the driver’s seat can bottom out (i.e. be compressed to its fullest extent so that a hard impact occurs after all), and this can also be painful. The best thing to do is try out what feels right for you.
Summary: Adjusting the driver’s seat individually for safe driving
Adjusting the driver’s seat is one of the first tasks before every journey. You make sure that you can reach the steering wheel and pedals comfortably, that your back is carefully supported and that the damping meets your requirements. This ensures that you can react quickly and with little effort to the traffic situation and that you do not climb out of the seat with tense or hardened muscles. However, the adjustment of the driver’s seat is not a substitute for taking exercise during your breaks! It only keeps you as healthy as possible when you are behind the wheel