Nehls bill opens door to bathrooms for truck drivers

“Do we want to treat our truckers like cats and dogs,” Nehls said during a May 10 hearing in Washington to discuss supply chain issues, prior to filing the Trucker Bathroom Access Act on June 6.

Nehl’s bill, co-sponsored by Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, D-Pa., requires that a truck driver can use a bathroom where they are delivering or waiting to deliver a truckload. In a news release, Nehls said the rule “would not require businesses to construct new restrooms,” but rather gives drivers an explicit right to use the facilities while at the loading dock.

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Advocates called the bill sadly necessary.

“I never thought we would be sitting in the house of Congress, the greatest nation in the world, talking about giving people the right to use the restroom when they are trying to do their job,” Lewie Pugh, executive vice-president of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, told a House Transportation and Infrastructure subcommittee on May 10.

While drivers have faced what they called some inhospitableness in certain locations, trucking industry groups said the problem grew during the COVID-19 pandemic. Especially early on, places that had allowed access to a toilet and sink sealed their doors to the drivers. Even as restrictions eased, drivers said some of their bathroom privileges never returned.

The scope of the problem, however, remains elusive, advocates said.

“This type of thing is pretty difficult to quantify with any specificity, but we represent drivers and often our legislative priorities are built on the feedback we receive from them,” George O’Connor, spokesman for OOIDA, said in an email. “Truckers being denied restroom access has become so prevalent that we knew action was needed.”

Drivers, reluctant to speak out about either their employers or the companies that they deliver to, said they felt defenseless. Many are on tight deadlines, beholden to the places they are delivering. If they cannot use a bathroom as goods are loaded or unloaded at retail shops, restaurants and warehouses, then they lose time driving to find alternative places for relief.

The issue is even more acute for female drivers, said Ellen Voie, founder of the Women In Trucking Association. Voie, citing a 2019 study, said female drivers are 83 percent more likely than men to be delayed six hours or more at docks, meaning more lost time.

Restrooms in general, as part of the larger scope of driving conditions and safety, are also major factors for women, she said, which could be eased if they had access to employee or public restrooms. In some cases, she said, while a warehouse might have a bathroom, truckers are steered to a temporary toilet outside.

“Some of the restrooms and port-a-potties are disgusting,” Voie said.

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She said drivers are not looking for special accommodations, just a little common sense and dignity.

“Does that need a law? I wish that wasn’t the case,” Voie said. “As long as drivers are still complaining, we need to do something about it.”

Prospects for the bill, filed June 6, are uncertain as Congress wades toward the summer break. It is Nehls and Houlahan’s second attempt at the bill, after filing it in December, late in the 2021-22 Congressional session.

Nehls said in May that he’d heard some opposition from lobbyists, though his office did not respond to a request for comment to elaborate. During a subcommittee hearing, Nehls was emphatic the opposition would not sway him.

“I really don’t care,” Nehls said of the opposition, noting their concerns would be reversed if it was their access to restrooms at risk.

“Imagine if you were told, all you lobbyists, ‘Go outside and find a tree, hell, go find a fire hydrant. Go outside and relieve yourself because you cannot do it in here.’ How long do you think that would last?”

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