Evaluating the Effects of Altering Whole-Body Vibration Exposures on Truck Drivers’ Vigilance

Abstract

Whole-body vibration (WBV) may contribute to truck driver fatigue and increase the potential for vehicular accidents. Previous studies of truck induced WBV exposures have mostly focused on physical discomfort, whereas there is little quantitative research on how WBV affects drivers’ alertness levels. The goal of this study is to explore whether there is an association between exposures to WBV and truck drivers’ vigilance, the fundamental aspect of attention. Truck driver’s vigilance was measured using Psychomotor Vigilance Task (PVT). Furthermore, a laboratory-based study and a field study were conducted to assess drivers’ vigilance performance with different levels of exposure to WBV created by using seats with different vibration damping performance. The results indicated that the changes of drivers’ vigilance were dependent on the WBV exposure levels. Less decline in vigilance performance was found after drivers sat in the truck seats that exposed them to lower levels of vibration, which may be due to seat-related differences in the vibration attenuation performance, and in particular, the attenuation of low frequency energy (1 – 4 Hz) in these seats. This dissertation provides evidence that truck seats, and ultimately different levels of exposure to WBV, may influence driver fatigue and the truck driver’s vigilance.