Requesting relief

At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, truck drivers were putting their health at risk in order to keep the nation’s supply chain moving.

They’d travel across the country with a trailer full of medicine or grocery items to keep the general public safe. Then, they’d reach their destination only to be told that the warehouse’s restroom was off limits to them.

The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association and the American Logistics Aid Network immediately called for businesses to give truckers access to a restroom.

“This is unconscionable, and those enforcing the policy lack public decency,” OOIDA President Todd Spencer wrote to President Donald Trump in March 2020. “The federal government must work with the logistics community to ensure truckers have access to restrooms.”

However, the problem wasn’t isolated to the pandemic. For years, OOIDA has fielded reports about truck drivers being told they can’t use the restroom while waiting for freight to be loaded or unloaded.

“I cannot adequately express to you the feeling of needing to use the restroom and being rejected because you are a trucker,” OOIDA Board Member Tilden Curl wrote to Washington state lawmakers in 2022. “Oftentimes, truck drivers will drive for several hours just to meet a delivery obligation and then be refused the right to relieve themselves.”

The efforts of Curl and OOIDA helped get a state law passed in Washington in 2022. OOIDA is hopeful a federal law can get signed in 2023.

The Association informed Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Texas, about the problem, and a bill was introduced on Dec. 15. As of press time, the bill was expected to be reintroduced into the 118th Congress.

“Honestly, for full disclosure, I wasn’t completely aware of the problem until OOIDA brought it to my attention,” Nehls said in an interview with Land Line. “Now that we’ve heard all of the horror stories from the truckers as it relates to not having access to bathrooms, I said to myself ‘Let’s do something good. Let’s try to get some legislation across the aisle that can assure that there is a place for the men and women in the industry to utilize the facilities.’”

The bipartisan Trucker Bathroom Access Act was introduced by Nehls and Chrissy Houlahan, D-Pa.

The bill simply requires shipper and receiver facilities that have restrooms accessible to their customers and employees make those same restrooms available for truck drivers who are delivering or receiving a load. The legislation would not require businesses to construct new restrooms.

Nehls said it’s the least America can do for the truck drivers who keep the nation’s supply chain moving.

“When you look at the number of truckers out there – the goods and services that American truckers deliver each and every day … It’s about time they have the basic right to use a restroom while working,” Nehls said.

The Republicans now have a majority with 222 members in the House. But Nehls said this is a bill that he believes all members of Congress will get behind.

“I don’t believe I’m going to have a problem getting enough support to get this through the House of Representatives. Again, this isn’t throwing another unfunded mandate on businesses. There’s really no cost to this thing. It’s actually just a courtesy these businesses are going to provide to the truckers – the men and women who are delivering cargo to that business … I think this is very simple. This should be something that should have a great deal of support in the House of Representatives and then it should slide right through the Senate and get signed.”

The legislation would:

• Require retailers, warehouses, and other businesses to give truckers access to bathroom facilities when they are picking up cargo or making deliveries.
• Not require businesses to construct new restrooms. It only requires that, if a business has a restroom available to their customers or employees, truckers should have the same access.
• Require the operators of ports and terminals to provide bathroom access to drayage drivers.

“A business does not have to construct new bathroom facilities,” Nehls said. “All it requires is that if a business has a restroom available to their customers or employees, truckers should have access to those same restrooms.”

The Women in Trucking Association also supports the bipartisan bill.

Houlahan said that restroom access is critical in the trucking industry’s attempt to recruit more female drivers.

“Time and again, we’ve seen that when we include women in our workforce, our economy prospers,” Houlahan said in a news release. “That’s true for the trucking industry, too. But restricted access to bathrooms is putting that progress in jeopardy. In response, our bipartisan legislation will give all truckers, and female drivers in particular, the confidence of having access to a restroom when they deliver goods to businesses and American families.

“Especially as the trucking industry continues to face employee retention challenges, we must ensure that we are providing truckers a working environment that honors the vital role they play in growing our economy. Ultimately, keeping more drivers on the road means fewer supply chain delays and lower costs. I’m proud to partner with Rep. Nehls on this straightforward effort.”

Nehls added that the bill should be a no-brainer.

“If they have bathroom facilities available, they obviously should provide the truckers the opportunity to use those facilities. I mean, why in the hell wouldn’t we do that?” LL