Readers are getting pee’d off over roadside messes

It must be spring, because I’m getting more and more e-mails from road users voicing their disgust in an all too common practice out on the road. Of course I’m talking about drivers who relieve themselves into juice bottles, windshield washer jugs or any other container that happens to be lying around the cab and then haphazardly dispose of them in the ditch.
I’ve used this blog to complain about littering before – and this is even worse. Believe it or not, there are some Good Samaritans out there who volunteer their time to clean our ditches – God Bless’em. They shouldn’t have to worry that the half-full bottle of apple juice they’ve just picked up may not contain apple juice at all!
It saddens me that the state of the industry is such that a driver can’t take the time to pull over at a rest stop or restaurant a few times a day to use the facilities. And I know that the availability of rest areas and washroom facilities isn’t always up to par in some parts of the country.
But still, to urinate in containers and throw them into the ditch is a disrespectful and unsanitary thing to do. If you really can’t take five minutes to pull over, then at least dispose of the evidence in a more acceptable manner. I don’t meant to sound preachy, and I do empathize with your situation when you’re out there on the road just trying to make a buck, but understand that this practice gives all of us associated with this industry a bad rap.

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James Menzies is editor of Today's Trucking. He has been covering the Canadian trucking industry for more than 20 years and holds a CDL. Reach him at james@newcom.ca or follow him on Twitter at @JamesMenzies.


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