What Do You Use, To Keep Comfortable Sitting For Long Periods While Driving?

I use a wedge shaped seat cushion that I purchased at Walgreens. It is a Walgreens brand. It has a u shaped cut out for your tailbone. Brett's naughty word censor might not like the medical name for your tailbone!

Awesome question, thanks for asking it. I have driven NY to FL multiple times in multiple vehicles and NY to CA 3 times in a Jeep Cherokee, 4 times in an F250, and once in a Porsche Boxster S. I love the adventure but cannot stay in the drivers seat more than 2 - 3 hours without a stretch break. As I'm really really looking forward to an OTR trucking career I have wondered if the truck seats were better than auto seats, I assume they are, and/or are trucking companies tolerant of stretch/bathroom breaks every few hours.

Well, i guess everyone has different needs. But i can say that the times i've driven a car long distances, i would sometimes get to the point where it was just uncomfortable and i couldn't find a position that helped. But i haven't had tgat happen while driving a truck. I think a big difference for me is that i can set cruise control and then put my feet flat on the floor, and i have plenty of leg room. The only time in 9 months that i've had an issue was when i hurt my knee and couldn't stand having it bent for any period of time.

Never keep your wallet in your back pocket while sitting, your back will go over time and that really sucks.

Learned this from my Chiro years ago. Constant low back pain on one side, always felt "crooked". He told me to move my wallet - after a few adjustments, all good. May not work with biker/trucker-chain-style-wallets - folks may have to sacrifice "style" for back health.

I drove a friends truck for a few minutes to check out his Bose seat. Like (pretty much) everything that Bose does, it was pretty cool. Takes a minute to get used to though - it doesn't have the "motion" that regular air seats do.

Rick

Awesome question, thanks for asking it. I have driven NY to FL multiple times in multiple vehicles and NY to CA 3 times in a Jeep Cherokee, 4 times in an F250, and once in a Porsche Boxster S. I love the adventure but cannot stay in the drivers seat more than 2 - 3 hours without a stretch break. As I'm really really looking forward to an OTR trucking career I have wondered if the truck seats were better than auto seats, I assume they are, and/or are trucking companies tolerant of stretch/bathroom breaks every few hours.

Most people try and get as much wheel time as possible done, in the time we're allotted to be On Duty/Driving - but you're not expected to explode your bladder waiting for your mandatory 1/2 hour break either. Rolling into a rest stop every 2-3 hours for 5-10 minutes to "stretch and drain" isn't gong to get you in trouble, but it will start eating up time (another 1/2 hour if you stop 3X in a shift).

Remember we deal with two daily clocks - the 11 & 14. With a mandatory 1/2 hour break, your 14 turns into a 13.5 clock. Throw in pre-trip and fueling and you kill another 1/2 to 45 mins. Add in the screwing around you have to do at shippers/receivers and taking too many breaks "on the 14 clock" - could potentially run you out of time on the 14 and out of drive time.

Rick

Never keep your wallet in your back pocket while sitting, your back will go over time and that really sucks.

Learned this from my Chiro years ago. Constant low back pain on one side, always felt "crooked". He told me to move my wallet - after a few adjustments, all good. May not work with biker/trucker-chain-style-wallets - folks may have to sacrifice "style" for back health.

I drove a friends truck for a few minutes to check out his Bose seat. Like (pretty much) everything that Bose does, it was pretty cool. Takes a minute to get used to though - it doesn't have the "motion" that regular air seats do.

Rick

GREAT POINT Rick!!! I never, never drive with the wallet in my back pocket. Fortunately I also have never experienced any back issues...really great point.

Morning and evening; lay flat on your back on the floor, draw one knee as close to your chin as possible keeping your back flat on the floor. Use your hands to pull the knee if necessary. Hold it thirty seconds. Drop that leg back on the floor and do the same with the other. Do this for 10-15 minutes.

Also, laying flat on your back, arms flat out to the side, pull one knee up and rotate at the hips as far over the opposite leg as possible. Hold it there about thirty seconds and do the same with the other.

I know this sounds like football warm up, but my Chiropractor had me do this and it's worked for me. In the truck I do what I can laying in the bunk and it does help.

I hope this helps.

Never keep your wallet in your back pocket while sitting, your back will go over time and that really sucks.

Learned this from my Chiro years ago. Constant low back pain on one side, always felt "crooked". He told me to move my wallet - after a few adjustments, all good. May not work with biker/trucker-chain-style-wallets - folks may have to sacrifice "style" for back health.

I drove a friends truck for a few minutes to check out his Bose seat. Like (pretty much) everything that Bose does, it was pretty cool. Takes a minute to get used to though - it doesn't have the "motion" that regular air seats do.

Rick

Another problem that can occur is called piriformis syndrome, also commonly referred to as wallet sciatica. Basically, the pressure from sitting on your wallet causes inflammation in the piriformis muscle, a small oblong muscle that runs on a diagonal beneath the gluteal muscles. It also just happens to be located right next to the sciatic nerve, and if it gets inflamed it can impinge the nerve, causing pain, muscle spasms, tingling, numbness, and muscular dysfunction in the leg. I had a bout of this some 6 or 7 years ago, and it was hell. In addition to all the pain and tingles and such, I all but lost the use of my calf muscles in my right leg. They just didn't want to work at all. It was a good year before it fully resolved, and even now I still get cramping sensations in that stupid little piriformis muscle and have to stretch it out. Needless to say, my wallet has lived in my front pocket ever since.