The matter in summary Lorry drivers are frustrated by poor hygienic conditions in toilets along the roads, with faeces found on seats and walls. Driver Kjell Trana describes the conditions as “horrible” and expresses concern about the risk of infection, especially during holidays when many people use the rest areas. Olav Trana, who runs a 24-hour rest area for long-haul drivers, reports on increased soiling after the pandemic and health-hazardous conditions. The Norwegian Public Roads Administration is aware of the problem and has daily cleaning of the toilets, but still experiences soiling. They ran a campaign in the summer of 2022 to show people how to use the toilet. The Swedish Road Administration has no plans to close the toilets, but is considering new campaigns and increased cleaning if the fouling continues. Truck driver Trana suggests stricter controls at the toilets, including a card system or phone number for opening the doors. The summary is made by an AI service from OpenAi. The content is quality assured by news’s journalists before publication. Imagine this. You are sitting in the car and feel that you have to go to the bathroom. But there are still several kilometers to go to the nearest toilet. When you finally get to a rest area, you get out of the car and do the slightly odd time you get when you’re pinching again, and open the door to the toilet. There you are greeted by a toilet with faeces on the seat. Tempting to sit down? – When they drift and shit up the walls, shit in the sink, shit on the floor and on the toilet. I won’t say you are sick once. There is something formidable going on upstairs, says Kjell Trana. He has driven trucks for many years and seen most things. He is particularly upset about some of the toilets he has to use through his job. – Some of this is simply horrible, he says. When nature calls, it is unpleasant to be greeted with a dirty toilet. Photo: Kjall Trana – Risk of infection The lorry driver says it’s worst during holidays. Then there are many people who use the rest areas and more who don’t care how it looks after them. – Now this must end. We are, after all, quite a lot of drivers who go around the country and the coast, all year round. We serve the districts and this is the thank you, he says excitedly. Trana is afraid that the dirty toilets could contribute to the spread of diseases. Among other things, Trana transports a number of pigs from Steinkjer and northwards. – I go with the pig and push and ease it to get it to hang where it should in the car. Then I have to go to the toilet in Saltdalen, the toilet is closed and I have to go to the forest. There is no sink. When I get to Tromsø, I have to push the pig out again, says Trana. Electrician refused work Just north of Steinkjer on the E6 lies Snåsakroa. There, long-haul drivers find one of the country’s 24-hour rest areas. Olav Trana runs Snåsakroa. He is well aware that people rush to the toilets they offer to travelers along the road. Photo: Tariq Alisubh / news There is both a shower and a toilet that the drivers can use while they are resting. – After the pandemic, it became a completely different everyday life with much more pig left. People think we are the forest and then you can imagine what it will be like around the green areas, says Olav Trana, who runs Snåsakroa. He is Kjell’s brother and says it is particularly bad when the tourists come. – We have had problems beating the tarpaulin because there is so much in it. It is directly dangerous to health, he says. He particularly remembers an episode when someone would come and set up charging stations at the pub. – Then it was so bad that the head of the electrician company refused his employees to work behind there, says Trana. Many people choose to empty their bladders behind house walls, on plow edges or in ditches instead of using the toilets at rest areas. Photo: Kjell Trana Running campaigns The Swedish Road Administration is aware of the problem. They have daily cleaning of all the toilets they have along the roads at the rest areas, but still experience coming to dirty toilets. In the summer of 2022, they therefore ran a campaign where they show people how to go to the toilet. – We saw an improvement in our road toilets after we hung up the posters. On the outside, it hasn’t gotten any better or worse, says construction manager Torunn Haugen Sandvik in the Norwegian Public Roads Administration. The Norwegian Public Roads Administration hung these posters on toilets along the roads in an attempt to make it cleaner. Photo: Statens vegvesen According to her, it is especially at rest areas and pockets where there are no toilets that they struggle with soiling. – There, many people pick up rubbish, bottles of urine and the like, she says. The Swedish Road Administration has no plans to close toilets as a result of the problem. But if the pollution continues, it may be appropriate to have new campaigns and increase cleanliness. – This offer is something we consider an important service offer for road users along our road network, so that priority will be given to keeping the toilets open, says Sandvik. Wants access control The lorry driver wants stricter control at some of the toilets. He is willing to pay for things to improve for him and his colleagues. – It must be possible to use a card system or have a phone number you could call to get the door opened. Then one would get rid of some of the problem in a simple way, says Trana. These are solutions that have been tried at rest areas along the E6, E8 and E10 in Troms and Finnmark. There, long-haul drivers had to have a card to unlock the door. – The purpose of this is probably not to log who enters the building, but to appeal to the person concerned that he has identified himself by using the card to enter, says Sandvik. These are solutions that cost money and that there are currently no plans to introduce in central Norway. – Getting paid is not a current solution now, says Sandvik. Photo: Kjell Trana
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Lorry drivers despair over people who go to the toilets along the roads – news Trøndelag – Local news, TV and radio
