Allergies are the sixth leading cause of chronic illness in the U.S., according to the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, yet despite being the last line of defense between the driver and airborne particles, a truck’s cabin air filters routinely go unchecked.
“Cabin air filters are probably the most overlooked filter on a vehicle today,” said Joe Puff, vice president of truck technology and maintenance at NationaLease. “Drivers spend a lot of time in vehicles and these filters can greatly reduce contaminants that otherwise would be inhaled. A driver that suffers with allergies can benefit considerably with a clean cab filter.”
Cabin air filters perform a role much like that of the filter in a home HVAC system, capturing many allergens, pollen, dirt, dust, molds and some bacteria before they reach the cab. “It also can help remove emissions particulate matter like soot,” Puff said, “basically helping to scrub the air in the cabin.”
Chris Alley, global planning and logistics functional lane leader at Cummins, and formerly Cummins Filtration global air product manager, said the initial baseline for cabin air filter changes is in accordance with recommended OE service interval for the vehicle, but if that isn’t specified or known, “it is a good practice to change the cabin air filter when the engine intake air filter is changed or in alignment with other service intervals,” he said.
Ryder Field Maintenance Manager Rick Bell recommended checking cabin air filters at every service interval and replacing them as needed – usually twice per year.
“There are a lot of people who recommend replacing cabin filters in the beginning of spring because of high dust, pollen and allergen counts in the air,” Puff said. “If cabin air filters are scheduled for replacement annually, I prefer to schedule the replacement in late spring or the beginning of summer.”
If the filter is replaced before the pollen count rises, Puff noted the driver could have a clean filter for the beginning of pollen season but operate the other 10 months with a partially restricted one. If it’s replaced after pollen season, he said, the unit will operate approximately nine months with a pollen free filter before it starts collecting it the following season.
