Gone are the days when semi truck cabs were stripped down to the basics and designed to avoid regulations. Modern semi trucks are designed to be functional for the driver and comfortable for as long as the haul may take. The trends in the industry are changing to focus on 3 new aspects of day-to-day life.

• Health — If you can’t get a decent night’s rest, your work will suffer. Modern sleeper cabs help you stay rested and stay warm in the winter or cool in the summer.
• Safety — No longer are driver cockpit layouts decided by where mechanical cables and lines have room to fit. Modern wiring and ECUs allow layouts to be simpler, with gauges and components in clear view and easy access.
• Quality of life — Driver retention is a big deal to trucking companies. If a fleet can demonstrate that it cares about the quality of a driver’s life, it stands a better chance at retaining drivers and saving on recruitment and training.  

If you want a better idea of the health and safety improvements available in today’s semis, look no further than the Detroit Assurance® 5.0 suite of safety systems from Freightliner. It includes fused radar and camera technology that adjusts your cruising speed and tracks the truck’s positioning within lane markings — good luck finding that in your grandpa’s semi. This is just one of many examples where drive safety and ease of use have been prioritized.

How far exactly has technology, design, and comfort come in truck sleeper cabs? Let’s take a look.

Semi truck sleeper cabs have come a long way from the 1970s, but the pace of improvement has leaped forward in just the last few years. Truckers have been DIY customizing their rigs for decades (good luck pulling yourself out of that YouTube black hole). Just like many innovations, companies eventually learn from what everyday Americans are doing and bring it to the broader market. Here’s a peek into what a Second Skin Audio customer did to improve the comfort of his sleeper cab.

Second Skin Truck Sleeper Cab Project

We love that DIY mentality, and are here to help you with your build if you’re looking to do the same type of project. If you’re looking to experience the top-of-the-line comfort of a modern semi truck, check out some pictures of a 2020 Freightliner Cascadia sleeper. Please note: it’s impractical for most truck drivers to have this extravagant sleeper cab. Every pound of weight in the cab is a pound that can’t be used to transport goods. Still… it’s pretty cool.

The Modern Supersized Truck Sleeper Cab

Insulating your semi truck isn’t just about comfort — it’s about safety and quality of life. Along with improving temperature regulation, a pristine insulation job will help knock out road noise. Sound and noise control is imperative to someone who spends so much time driving. After 7 days and 60 hours on-duty, the road noise takes a toll – whether you’re aware of it or not. The good news is that even if you don’t drive a brand new truck, you can take steps to improve the sound deadening in your 18 wheeler. The approach is two-fold, depending on your needs: soundproofing the cockpit and insulating the sleeper cab.

Generally speaking, are your issues during the day as you drive? If so, focus on the cockpit. Are your issues at night, preventing you from getting good rest? Focus on the sleeper cab.

Driver's Cockpit Soundproofing and Insulation

Insulating and soundproofing your semi truck’s cockpit is a lot like doing the same in a car: it’s a matter of deadening structural noise and blocking/absorbing airborne noise. The difference is, with a semi truck, everything is bigger. Your engine is more powerful, the road noises are louder, and the vibrations are more intense.

To combat the structural noise, deaden metal components with a vibration damper. The best performing option out there is our Damplifier Pro deadening mats, which can be installed within door panels, over floor panels, and under the roof. Damplifier Pro’s proprietary formulation is engineered to put an end to the structural noise created by truck engine vibrations. Stop the vibrations, stop the noise.

Once you’ve sufficiently deadened the sheet metal, create a barrier between you and engine, exhaust, and road noise. Do this with a sound blocker like Luxury Liner Pro, our best automotive noise barrier. A dense sound blocker is the only way to keep out that diesel noise and any other airborne sound waves making their way into the cockpit. Luxury Liner Pro works best when installed on top of a sound deadener, which makes it the perfect complement to Damplifier Pro.

The two materials installed together will greatly improve the noise blocking and sound quality within your cockpit.

Sleeper CaB Insulation and Soundproofing

When it comes to the sleeper cab, soundproofing it is a lot like how to make a room soundproof and then of course the level of heat insulation is hugely important. This is where you spend your time at night, and if you’re not lucky enough to have an effective heating unit within the sleeper, you’re going to end up relying heavily on insulation .

Although it’s not as common for truckers to idle their engines at night as it used to be, some still do it. If this is the case for you and that engine noise is keeping you up, you need 100% coverage of Luxury Liner Pro on the wall that faces the front of the truck. This sound barrier is critical to wall soundproofing and to keeping out the diesel noise keeping you up at night.

If you’re hearing noise from outside the cab at night, you're going to need to add a little mass to your walls. A perfect material for this is mass loaded vinyl. Luxury Liner Pro can be used on all four vertical walls within the sleeper cab to create a barrier between you and the outside world, it is a great automotive soundproofing product.

If temperature regulation is your main concern, your first priority is to ensure you don’t have large air gaps. For example, if your sleeper cab is open to the driver’s cockpit – all of that cold air coming through the front windows has nothing to stop it. If you’ve plugged the holes and still want extra insulation, then it's time to start considering materials like Heat Wave Pro or Mega Zorbe for the walls and ceiling. Both are magnificent insulators, but Mega Zorbe is also a hydrophobic melamine foam, meaning that it is even better at absorbing noise. Those sound absorbing properties give you the added benefit of helping to quiet down your sleeper cab by absorbing unwanted sound.

If you’re driving a semi truck today, the good news is that trucks are only becoming more comfortable. With new amenities and other day-to-day comforts, chances are your work environment is a vast improvement from what was available in the past. If you have a Peterbilt semi, check out our article on Peterbilt cab soundproofing. We also have an article on soundproofing the hood of a freightliner truck.

If you feel like your truck should be more comfortable, we've got the materials and know-how to get you where you want to go. Whether you decide to go with Second Skin or not, we're here to help you get the most out of your semi truck project. With the insulation materials available to us today, there’s no reason why you should settle for the 1970s experience in your semi truck. Shoot us a message and we'll be happy to discuss the options you have to make your truck more comfortable!