If truck seats tend to be far more comfortable than those of a generation ago, why do drivers gripe about them? Maybe because they don’t know how to adjust them. Old-style seats with simple height and fore-and-aft adjustments have given way to seats with lumbar and bolster supports, sometimes in multiples that are each adjustable with separate switches.

There may be four or more toggle switches on a driver’s and passenger’s seat, plus one or more levers to operate adjustments of the base and the seat back. And they’re not in the same place on every seat.

“I think all the different seatmakers should agree on standard locations for the various controls and adjustments on a seat,” urges Duane Gaza of Kustom Fit. “When I go to a truck show and climb into a variety of different demo cabs, it’s amazing how much those levers and knobs can vary.”

Where those switches and levers are and exactly what they do can’t be known unless you take the time to play with them-and let your drivers do the same. Indeed, many fleet maintenance people clear out a truck of manuals and paperwork in the course of putting it into service. They might forestall some complaints by leaving the instructions in the cab or-better yet-making seat adjustment one of the things to be covered in new-driver orientation. If nothing else, tell drivers to experiment with the various controls to see how back, bottom and leg adjustments can be made.

When they figure it all out, they’ll probably feel a lot more comfortable. For example, a nagging ache in the lower back can disappear fast if one of the lumbar supports is pneumatically inflated or mechanically expanded. And remember the old trick of lowering a seat to keep at least some weight on the feet so blood circulation in the legs is not restricted.