Long-distance transport drivers are completely dependent on the rest areas along the road. But they are often full of motorhomes. Motorhomes and lorries must compete for the same rest areas. Here along the E6 in Nordland Photo: Mathias Mikalsen / news Lay down important rest area At Rognan in Nordland, a popular rest area has recently been closed. That worries professional driver Frank Brubakk. – Especially the tourist traffic fills up the picnic areas. There are simply too few places to stop. On average, more than 350 heavy vehicles pass through Rognan daily, according to the Norwegian Public Roads Administration. Saltdal municipality believes it was not justifiable to have the rest area open because it was in poor condition. – We are now working to get a clarification on the matter, but we will not succeed in reaching the finish line until the summer season is over, says mayor Rune Berg. Here, but no longer. The popular rest area Nerauan on Rognan is in poor condition and had to be closed. Photo: Mathias Mikalsen / news The Norwegian Public Roads Administration: – Is enough too few Professional drivers must follow the statutory rest time regulations (external link). The Norwegian Public Roads Administration agrees that the capacity of the rest areas is too low. Lack of rest can, among other things, end in traffic accidents. – In total, there are enough too few rest areas, says Knut Hågensen in the Norwegian Public Roads Administration. – If the registration reveals that we have too little capacity, we must consider expanding the capacity. Motorhomes should not stop at 24-hour rest areas For the Norwegian Truck Owners’ Association, there is no doubt: capacity should be expanded. At the moment it is too low. Especially in the summer during the motorhome season. – We do not mind motorhomes as such. I understand that they also stop somewhere. But it should be better arranged so that they can carry out their camping which is not as critical as our statutory rest. This is what Frank Lauritz Jensen, NLF adviser in Nordland, Troms and Finnmark, says. Professional drivers do not have the exclusive right to the normal rest areas. But the 24-hour rest areas are only for those who are actually at work as a driver. Frank Lauritz Jensen in the NLF says they are working to get more rest areas along the roads. Photo: Ole-Fredrik Lambertsen / news – We work intensively to get more 24-hour rest areas, especially in northern Norway, where it is very scattered between each. Those who work along the road should be able to have a decent working life. – But how do you know what is what? – The 24-hour rest areas must be well signposted. And those who drive motorhomes should not stop there at all. Not private cars either. It is especially important that the rest areas with toilets are not filled with motorhomes. Motorhomes have the toilet with them, the professional drivers do not. – Maybe this news item can be translated into German and English so that they also get it, jokes Jensen. There are no small things that will fit along the road. Important goods must arrive. The drivers also sleep here. Photo: Mathias Mikalsen / news Experiences that tourists are more important news has been in contact with several regional directors in the Norwegian Truck Owners Association (NLF). The challenge of motorhomes and few picnic areas is known throughout the country. In Gjøvik last year, professional drivers lost a rest area close to the city center where heavy vehicles had been parked for a number of years. Regional manager Guttorm Tysnes says: – Suddenly it was taken away and then motorhomes came there instead. We see a clear tendency for tourists to be more important than bringing in goods. It is a strange attitude to an important professional group, he says. It was a municipal decision. Now the municipality has offered another picnic area which, according to Tysnes is much smaller and much further away. But that they have accepted the offer as an emergency solution. – It was better than nothing. The sign is better In Vestfold, Telemark and Buskerud, they are well acquainted with the problem, and worked hard last year to find a solution. They collaborated with the Norwegian Public Roads Administration in the form of signage and marking of the places that are reserved for heavy transport. – Some of the exposed passes last year have now been upgraded and better signposted. So I hope that is the explanation for minor complaints this year, says regional manager Roy N. Wetterstad. ‘Frank Brubakk sleeps in his compartment. He does not have a toilet on board, and is dependent on the fact that the few rest areas along the road are actually vacant and operational. Photo: Mathias Mikalsen / news
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Motorhome tourists take over the rest areas for professional drivers – news Nordland
