Bose Debuts Advancements in Its Ergonomic Truck Seats

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Bose, the manufacturer that applied its pioneering sound-blocking technology to block bumps and vibrations in truck seats, has announced upgrades to its seats, including a refined control system, improved ergonomic features and a built-in informational audio track that helps orient drivers to the new equipment.

The newest seats, dubbed the Bose Ride system II, give drivers a ride-control selector so they can customize their ride through the day to fit what can be changing road surface conditions, company executives said at a press event Feb. 15 here at the annual Technology & Maintenance Council meeting.

Bose launched the seats in 2010, and in 2014 Bose released research on the drivers who used the seats for three carriers that showed the “Bose Ride system dramatically reduces driver fatigue and pain,” said Mike Rosen, general manager of the Bose Ride team at Bose Corp. “We also learned that the system causes drivers to feel safer, recover faster and expect to have a longer driving career.”

Rosen said Bose continued to query drivers about how they were adjusting to the new technology, and the findings gave birth to the second generation of the seats, Rosen said. Today, the seats allow the drivers three settings — the soft, the middle setting and the firm setting, which is the “best defense against bottoming in hard conditions,” Bose said.

From the outset, Bose marketed the seat as a tool to help fleets cut down on driver chronic pain conditions and as a way to keep drivers on the job longer in the face of a trucking industry shortage of drivers.

Jay Bullard, vice president of operations at R+L Carriers in Wilmington, Ohio, said that over the past year, the carrier has put the seats in 1,000 of its 5,000 truck cabs, largely as a way to alleviate shocks and vibrations for drivers and to show management’s appreciation for the job they do, he said.

“We take pride in taking care of our employees, and these Bose seats have really made it easier on some of our drivers,” Bullard said. “One example, I have a driver in Charlotte that was going to the chiropractor once a month, and since he’s rode in a Bose seat he doesn’t go to the chiropractor anymore.”

Brian Kinsey, president of Brown Integrated Logistics Inc. in Lithonia, Georgia, said that when managers started talking about getting some of the Bose seats, Brown drivers had low expectations, envisioning something like speakers in a head rest, rather than more comfortable rides.

“We had several drivers who called me within a week and said, ‘I can’t believe it; it’s unbelievable,’ ” Kinsey said. “The first thing they noticed was the lack of pain in their upper back.”

Kinsey said the company has the seats on 41 trucks now and is adding more so it will soon have close to 100 on its 500-unit fleet. He wanted the seats, Kinsey added, for safety reasons, because they keep drivers less fatigued and more alert, and for retention reasons, because he believes his longtime drivers will stay on the job longer due to the seats.

The seats are available for aftermarket installation and the Bose Ride system II will be available in Volvo trucks this spring, Bose said.