by Dan Kincaid

A long-haul truck driver can spend up to 24 hours in his or her cab and/or sleeper. The air quality in that small space is important to the driver’s health. Almost all trucks today come with a cabin air filter designed to clean all air entering the truck. The device using a filter media much like the filter that cleans the engine intake air. Some of these filters are also impregnated with a carbon or baking soda layer to remove mild odors as well.

In environments such as construction, mining, etc. there are a multitude of contaminants entering the cab. The outside air can be six times “dirtier” than inside filtered air. Without a cabin air filter, this dirty air could be inhaled, possibly causing the driver distress, especially if he or she has asthma or another respiratory illness. This can lead to serious health concerns and time off work, and result in lost productivity for the truck or fleet owner.

Cabin air filters should be replaced on average between 15,000 and 20,000 miles, depending on the severity of the driving (dirty air and road) conditions. In construction vehicles, the filter should be inspected every 5,000 to 10,000 miles and replaced as needed.

Most cabin air filters locations are designed to be easy to access so the driver can replace it without having to take the truck to a repair shop. It usually takes 5to 10 minutes to replace the filter, requiring a minimum of tools. Most sleeper HVAC units also have an air filter to clean inside air and most are easy to access.

• Read more Did You Know blog posts with helpful tips for commercial truck technicians
• Learn more about TruckSeries repair information for Class 4-8 trucks