Tech4Rest
Improving sleep, reducing fatigue, and impacting Total Worker Health® for team truck drivers

- An enhanced cab intervention that utilizes a therapeutic mattress system and an active suspension seat to alter whole body vibrations during driving and sleep periods.
- A behavioral sleep intervention, which has been adapted from our effective SHIFT (Safety & Health Involvement For Truckers) program.
Why is this important?
Has this worked before?
The Tech4Rest program was developed based on previous effective interventions.
The enhanced cab intervention includes an active suspension seat. Our previous research has demonstrated that industry-standard passive, air suspension seat has substantially higher whole body vibration exposures relative to the active-suspension seat. This study also showed that higher levels of whole body vibration exposures adversely affect the vigilance of truck drivers and contribute to cognitive fatigue.
The behavioral intervention is adapted from the SHIFT program which originally targeted weight loss among truck drivers. SHIFT is a 6-month group weight loss competition supported with weekly behavior and body weight logging, behavioral computer-based training (healthy weight loss, sleep, eating, and exercise), and individual motivational interviewing (up to 4 interviews). SHIFT has been established as effective in a cluster randomized controlled trial. The intervention produced a significant and medically meaningful mean difference of -1.0 BMI units between groups. The intervention also has a demonstrated track record producing moderate-to-large improvements in driver physical activity (sleep protective), which is leveraged in the Tech4Rest adaptation to explicitly improve sleep.
How is this study funded?
Funding for Tech4Rest is provided by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH; grant: U19OH010154) and the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries
Meet the research team
Ryan Olson, PhD - Co-Principal Investigator (OHSU)
Pete Johnson, PhD - Co-Principal Investigator (University of Washington)

Kelsey Parker, PhD - Post Doctoral Research Associate (OHSU)
Layla Mansfield, PhD - Senior Research Assistant (OHSU)
Jarred Rimby , BA - Research Assistant II (OHSU)
(Not pictured: FangFang Wang, MS - Graduate Research Assistant (University of Washington), Frank Ryou Hyoung, MPH - Graduate Research Assistant (University of Washington))
Current partners
If you're interested in partnering with us, please contact the research team at tech4rest@ohsu.edu or 503-494-6580
How can I participate?
We are currently recruiting trucking companies with a team truck driving model to participate in this study.
If you know an organization that might be interested, or would like more information about our study, please contact the research team at tech4rest@ohsu.edu or 503-494-6580.