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If there is one thing every truck driver is well aware of, it is the struggle it can sometimes be to find a bathroom to use when you have to go when on the road. Well, Washington State recently passed a law set to go into effect in late July that addresses this issue. This new law will broaden the access truckers have to bathrooms.

Truck drivers will now have access to bathrooms that are marked as only intended for employees or customers.

Not only will truck drivers have full access to these designated bathrooms and places for shippers and receivers, but they will also have access to a complaint system in which they can launch a complaint against any violators. The complaint will be taken so seriously that it may even result in a fine.

The main backers of this bill in the state House of Representatives are all Democrats. This bill in the House accompanied a similar bill that was posed during the session for the state Senate. The bill ultimately was signed into law by Washington Governor Jay Inslee.

This new law means that bathroom breaks do not have to be a thing of worry and stress for drivers anymore. Any in-state Washington shippers and receivers now must allow truck drivers the use of any of their restrooms, no matter what the requirements are outside of that. All too often places will say they have no restroom when they really do, it is just an employee restroom. Or companies have restrooms but allow only customers to use them. Both of these restrictions are now null for truck drivers.

The only restriction that does come along with the law has to do with the location of the bathroom.

If the bathroom is in a location in which giving access to outside personnel creates an increased risk to the health or safety of anyone involved, being the carrier, shipper, or receiver, then the use of this bathroom is allowed to be restricted. Shippers and receivers are not supposed to make any changes to these existing bathrooms, but merely give access to them to truck drivers.

The president of the Washington Trucking Association, Sheri Call, personally worked to get this law passed in support of her truck drivers. She spoke about the frequent complaints they would receive about the limited bathroom access they had so she wanted to get the ball rolling on giving more access. This new availability of a large number of bathrooms will certainly change what it is like to be a truck driver in Washington.