title: Vehicle design influences whole body vibration exposures: effect of the location of the front axle relative to the cab.
abstract: Using a repeated measure design, this study compared differences in whole body vibration (WBV) exposures among 13 drivers who drove a truck with the cab over the front axle (cab-over design) and a truck with the cab situated behind the front axle (non-cab-over design). The drivers drove both trucks over a standardized route that comprised three distinct segments: a freeway segment, a city street segment with stop-and-go driving (traffic lights), and a city street segment without traffic lights. A portable WBV data acquisition system collected tri-axial time-weighted and raw WBV data per ISO 2631-1 and 2631-5 standards. Simultaneous global positioning system (GPS) data were also collected to compare vehicle speeds. The GPS data indicated that there were no speed differences between the two vehicles. However, average and impulsive z-axis vibration levels were significantly higher for the cab-over design than for the non-cab-over design. In addition, significant WBV exposure differences between road types were found, with the freeway segments having the lowest exposures and the city street segments without traffic lights having the highest exposures. Vehicle type and the associated WBV exposures should be considered when purchasing vehicles to be used by full-time professional vehicle operators.
authors.affiliation: University of Washington, School of Public Health, Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, Seattle, Washington 98105-6099, USA.
authors.forename: Ryan P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Blood
authors.forename: Patrik W
authors.initials: PW
authors.lastname: Rynell
authors.forename: Peter W
authors.initials: PW
authors.lastname: Johnson
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001334:Automobile Driving; D004867:Equipment Design; D006804:Ergonomics; D040362:Geographic Information Systems; D006801:Humans; D018986:Motor Vehicles; D016273:Occupational Exposure / Q000032:analysis* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014732:Vibration