If your dreams arrive only when you’re sleeping, there’s no way you’ll ever see them come true. Mark Hodgson, age 42, has been dreaming, wide awake, ever since he became a long-haul driver. That was nearly 20 years ago, and his dreams are just now beginning to bear fruit.

Hodgson used the income from his modestly profitable owner-operator business to launch his most successful venture to date, the TravelALERT seat massager. “I might not have seen this one coming if I hadn’t had a few failures first,” Hodgson admits. “But the first time I sat in a seat equipped with the massage motors, I knew this had huge potential.”

The product is based on the Laz-Y-Boy vibrating recliner chair, and Mark and his partner, Bert Drury, decided to experiment with his own truck seat first. Mark conducted market research while on the road, letting other drivers try it, testing their reaction. The positive response led the pair to contact JB Research in Los Angeles, the maker of “Relaxor” technology used by Laz-Y-Boy. They came away with Canadian distribution rights for aftermarket applications, and now operate Relaxor Massage Seating Products of Woodbridge, Ont.

The massagers use up to eight motors embedded in the foam beneath the seat upholstery, placed to achieve maximum stimulation to the buttocks, thighs, as well as lower and upper back muscles. They’re microprocessor-controlled to offer varying rhythms and intensity.

Rather than opening up a storefront or trying to sell on the Internet, Hodgson believed that installing the product directly in his customer’s present seats would have the greatest impact. “The placement makes a big difference in their effectiveness,” he says. After several custom installations, and they pretty well sold themselves.

Hodgson now specializes in custom installations, personalizing each massager for individual drivers. His latest idea is to wire the controller into fatigue-detection devices, such as a lane-placement monitor. If the truck were to wander out of its lane, the seat would automatically activate at high intensity to wake the driver.

After participating in a study of fatigue monitoring technology sponsored by Transport Canada and the U.S. Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, Challenger Motor Freight risk management director Enno Jakobson called the massagers the most effective device his drivers tried. The company had them installed in about 300 trucks.

Hodgson says keeping dreams alive can be difficult. He realized quickly how many others are out there with clever ideas. This one is looking good right now, with several major automotive seating manufacturers considering it. Yet Hodgson is realistic.

“Even if this goes no further, I can say I’ve learned a heck of a lot in the process,” he says. “And that alone is worth the price of admission.”