Sit Up: Moncton Startup Hoping to Change the Trucking Industry
MONCTON – You’ve been hearing it often lately: sitting is the new smoking.
Healthcare professionals have been warning that sitting for extended periods of time can have serious health consequences, just like smoking cigarettes. So imagine the risk to truck drivers – they are required to sit for hours on end.
A Moncton-based startup wants to make things better. Force 3 Innovations has developed new technology to improve the comfort and performance of those working in trucking, transit and pretty much any profession that requires you to sit on your butt for long periods of time.
It’s a big market. In the trucking industry alone there are 3.5 million drivers in the United States and another 220,000 in Canada.
Force 3’s co-founder Shawn Leger discovered the need by chance. He’s worked in the rehab industry for over 15 years selling wheelchairs and rehab equipment. One day he had a patient that got him thinking.
“I had a guy who was in a wheelchair and he was probably around 80-years-old. One thing we noticed is he was crooked from the waist-up,” Leger says. “After we started talking to him, asking him what he did for a living, he told me he was a truck driver.”
When you’re sitting down for long periods of time, you tend to lean on the nearest thing for comfort. When you’re leaning on a truck door most of your life, you’re going to develop some issues.
“He now had this lordosis that we had to fix in the wheel chair,” Leger says. “That made me kind of wonder what kind of seating trucking companies have.”
Leger brought the idea to his business partner and natural inventor, Darrell Mullen. After looking at different seats on the market, they discovered most offered very little support in the seat topper. There was lots of support for the suspension system, but very little support for a crucial part of the body for sitting: the pelvis.
“When we position people in the rehab industry, we start at the pelvis. It’s the foundation of your health. The pelvis is not straight,” Leger says. “No wonder you’re leaning to one side.”
From there, they built a prototype.
Force 3’s posture topper is comprised of a contoured foam seat cushion and back rest. The foam allows the weight and pressure of “boney prominences” to be spread over a larger surface area.
“Strategic placement of support surfaces requires a significant level adjustably to accommodate a wide range of human body types,” Leger says. “A large portion of our IP (Intellectual Property) is in regard to the surface shape, size position and adjustability.”
Force 3 has had their product tested through Université de Moncton, UNB and Waterloo University. Findings showed that their product not only improved posture and comfort, it also enhanced alertness. About 2 of 5 drivers admit to falling asleep at the wheel.
“One thing we know through this testing is we have the first seat that cognitively can keep you awake longer. That’s something that we didn’t really expect, but we would be the first seat that has that,” Leger says.
The new seat has been well received by drivers who tested it.
“They think that we’re on to something that’s going to change the industry,” Leger says. “Right now, they’re buying a seat and they don’t really know what they’re buying . . . they just buy a truck and pick the most expensive seat hoping its going to give them the best comfort and that’s really not the case.”
Force 3 is working to secure a manufacturer to use their technology to develop seat toppers for the trucking, transit and heavy machinery industries. The plan is to have their first product on the market in seven to 12 months. Force 3 will meet with the driver and clinician to understand the driver’s needs. The company will then adjust the driver’s posture using inserts and the topper is then placed on the driver’s seat. Force 3 will then follow up in one week to see if there are other adjustments needed.
It’s not only truck drivers who think Force 3 is onto something, so are investors like Wayne Chamberlain.
“I like the fact that there is a business and sales focused founder and a technology focused founder,” Chamberlain says. “The value proposition is easy to understand and targets a real need.”
He says the impact of Force 3’s technology could be huge.
“The target market is large, the work force is aging, there is a shortage of workers and health costs are rising,” he says. “The product has the potential to create millions of days of productivity. Given the macro demographic trends the impact could be huge for the market and life changing for individuals.”