The evening picture on the motorway service areas has not changed. Some of the trucks are in the exits and driveways because the drivers’ driving and resting times have expired. The reason for this is quickly found: there are not enough truck parking spaces.
The problem has been known for years – parking spaces on motorway service areas are in short supply. This was recently confirmed by the Federal Highway Research Institute – BAST for short – in a 2018 survey. This inventory started two years ago, only to find out again that there is a shortage of around 23,300 truck parking spaces nationwide. This information is not new, but it is now official.
14,200 parking spaces were already missing in 2008
The BAST had already determined in 2008 and 2013 that there were not enough parking spaces. As early as 2008, 14,200 truck parking spaces were missing. In 2013, the lack of parking spaces was reduced to 10,900, before rapidly increasing again in subsequent years. According to BAST, the shortage is currently 23,300 parking spaces. A condition that is equally unsustainable for truck and car drivers, because this further reduces safety on the motorways.
Federal association calls for more efforts from political decision-makers
Federal association calls for more efforts from political decision-makers
The Federal Association for Freight Transport Logistics and Waste quickly responded. Board spokesman Prof. Dirk Engelhardt calls on politicians to step up efforts to expand truck parking spaces. At the same time, Engelhardt offered that the member companies could provide additional parking space at the depots.
A closer look at the survey shows that the shortage of parking spaces particularly affects the east-west connections. This affects the A2 around Hanover, but also the A44 further south. For the north-south connections, the A7 is primarily affected, and further south the A5.
Parking apps should help
To alleviate the situation, some companies have developed so-called truck parking apps. The insurer Kravag is one of them. The company wants to support the truck drivers. In the course of digitization, the rest areas are also trying to indicate their free parking spaces in advance. A nationwide use is not yet available. The federal government, the states and municipalities are also in the process of developing new parking spaces. However, this will hardly mitigate the situation in the coming years if the forecasts for the increase in freight traffic are correct.
The Kravag parking app is integrated at TIS.
