Over the years, I have heard of many solo drivers removing their passenger seats for various reasons. Some remove it to add a small refrigerator in the space. Others remove it to add some sort of storage. Still, others have removed the passenger seat in their truck to add a sink. Whatever the reason, many drivers have removed their unused passenger seats to better use the space. I have considered removing my passenger seat in my trucks, but never got around to it until recently. I had to remove mine to make it easier to replace a cabinet-mounted refrigerator.
Removing the seat is actually quite easy. Four floor bolts, one seat belt floor anchor bolt, one seat belt anchor bolt on the seat frame, one airline connection, and one wire connection later, it was ready to move out. After removing it, I noticed just how much space a seat really takes up in the cab. I decided to leave it out until the new fridge arrived and was installed. I thought about leaving it out permanently and using the space for additional storage, and then I found that old habits die hard.
You don’t realize how much you actually use a passenger seat, even as a solo driver. My passenger seat hasn’t seen many human visitors, but it has been a good place to put paperwork in easy reach. The high back has also become a useful handhold when closing the curtains or reaching for something. It has also served as seating for when cleaning the passenger side window, as well as the windshield on that side of the truck. Even the pocket on the back of the seat has been very useful for storing my road atlas and my backup paper logbook. I suppose in time, I could get used to it being gone, but I believe it will be getting reinstalled, as soon as the fridge is back in its rightful place.
Having the extra space in the cab sans passenger seating seemed like a great idea all these years that I contemplated it, but the reality of it is, that over these many years it has become a useful part of the cab, even though not used for actual seating very often...