Unintended Stopover at a Service Area: Waiting for State Authorities to Unblock the Street

Usually, drivers decide where and when to take a break. However, sometimes accidents, treacherous weather, medical circumstances, political protests, or traffic congestion can lead to unplanned stops, interrupting their journeys and forcing them to take breaks. This paper examines the effects of road closures on service areas based on an incident involving an onset of adverse weather conditions in the late winter season that affected both lorry drivers and service area employees. I apply a concept of waiting integrated into mobility that rejects the duality of driving and resting and thus can transcend the functionalities classically ascribed to the service area. In the paper, I draw on ethnographic data collected during a snowstorm at a service area in north-western Bulgaria in February 2020.