Self-Employed Truck Driver Stranded for 20 Hours in Snow
Niclas Nordström, a self-employed truck driver, was trapped in snow on Sweden’s E22 motorway for a grueling 20 hours on Wednesday and Thursday. He described the severe weather conditions as the worst he’s faced in his three-decade career, as reported by The Local.
Having operated his own freight business since the 1990s, Nordström incorrectly anticipated that the traffic jams would have been cleared by the time he took the E22 on Wednesday. He, along with about 1,000 other drivers, realized his error when traffic ground to a halt near Linderöd around 1:45 PM.
“The traffic jam already had its cause earlier, so I assumed the police would have rerouted vehicles onto alternative roads,” the 58-year-old stated. “However, I didn’t think it through much. A more proactive approach could have prevented such extensive queues.”
As a blizzard swept across the region, up to 1,000 vehicles became stranded on the E22 between Hörby and Kristianstad. The Armed Forces were called in to assist with evacuations and to deliver food and water to those stuck in their vehicles.
Nordström’s truck features only a day cab, meaning there’s no sleeping area, so he had to spend the night sitting upright at the wheel. Fortunately, he was better off than many passengers in regular cars. Nonetheless, he was on his way to Lund and then home to Olofström without food or medicine, forcing him to rely on the generosity of others.
Among those he met was a couple from Holland who offered him hospitality the next day when he expressed how hungry he was. He spent the night tracking updates on the Swedish Transport Administration’s website regarding the road’s reopening.
Initially, the expected reopening time kept being delayed—from 8 PM to midnight, then to 2 AM, and finally to 2 PM the following day. Ultimately, at around 10 AM, help arrived from a local farmer, who created a three-meter-wide path through the snow. Together with the Dutchman, they navigated out through this opening, driving against traffic until they reached an accessible road.
“We managed to drive out through that opening, counter to the flow of traffic, but it was safe as there were no vehicles coming,” Nordström noted. “If we hadn’t taken the initiative, we might still be stuck there.” He further emphasized that in his experience driving through southern Skåne and Blekinge, he had never encountered conditions as severe as those on Wednesday, recalling that such bad weather hadn’t struck Skåne since 1979.
