trans.info — 2026-01-23
Land transportation
The shortage of parking spaces on Europe’s motorways remains unresolved, but digital solutions are beginning to offer partial answers. Between legally mandated rest periods, rising transport pressure and insufficient infrastructure, new systems are emerging that aim to guide truck drivers and ease the strain on the industry.
More transport, fewer spaces
The tense situation surrounding truck parking has been known for years, yet its true scale remains abstract for many. In Germany, the Federal Ministry of Transport reports a shortfall of several tens of thousands of regular parking spaces along the motorway network. Other European countries face similar bottlenecks, particularly along key transit corridors.
At the same time, Eurostat data shows that road freight transport in Europe has continued to grow in recent years despite economic fluctuations. E-commerce, just-in-time logistics and increasingly fragmented international supply chains are driving up transport volumes and vehicle numbers — and with them, demand for parking.
While transport volumes continue to rise, infrastructure expansion is lagging far behind. Legally mandated rest periods turn the search for parking into a daily challenge. Improvised parking on slip roads and exits is a common reality in many regions, rest breaks cannot always be taken in compliance with the rules, and companies lose time as drivers search for a suitable space.
The shortage is therefore not merely a matter of comfort. It has a structural impact on the safety, efficiency and reliability of the entire industry.
If infrastructure can’t keep up, digitalisation has to
These developments point to a clear trend: alongside construction measures, digital solutions are playing an increasingly important role in making existing capacity more visible and usable.
Drivers need reliable, advance information on occupancy levels. Dispatchers need greater planning certainty. Shippers and customers need transparency around potential delays. Digital systems can help bridge these information gaps.
Three categories of digital solution approaches
In recent years, a range of digital models has emerged, each contributing in different ways to easing the parking situation. These solutions can broadly be grouped into three categories.
1. Public information services: an overview of parking occupancy
These solutions primarily provide basic occupancy data for motorway parking areas:
These approaches offer initial orientation and help establish a more systematic overview of the situation.
2. Booking and reservation platforms: predictability for specific routes
Commercial providers focus on reservable parking spaces, mainly at managed parking facilities or truck stops:
Such platforms provide greater reliability, particularly on predictable routes. However, they typically cover only specific locations and limited capacities.
3. Data-driven applications: a broader picture beyond traditional rest areas
In addition to motorway rest areas, data-driven solutions also include alternative and freely accessible parking options:
Examples of this approach include applications that:
LKW.APP falls into this category, consolidating different types of parking spaces to present a broader view of available capacity.
These data-driven applications deliberately go beyond reservable parking. They also record freely accessible spaces, alternative areas and industrial zones. Based on a continuously updated, Europe-wide collection of parking information, they aim to make total available capacity more transparent — including locations outside traditional rest areas — and to enable a more even distribution of parking pressure.
How information helps make better use of existing space
Occupancy data is a central element of many systems. It reflects not only the current situation but can also be enriched with empirical data, historical patterns and feedback from drivers’ day-to-day experience. When external sources such as the SID are integrated, a more realistic picture emerges of when and where parking capacity is likely to be available.
The practical benefits are clear:
Because new parking spaces are being created only slowly, these systems are already having a tangible impact in daily operations. By making parking availability more predictable, they also contribute to safer traffic conditions overall.
Using existing space more efficiently instead of waiting for years
The combination of public information services, reservable parking options and data-driven systems shows that digital approaches can already help make better use of existing infrastructure. They do not replace the need for new construction, but they mitigate the effects of the shortage and provide orientation within an increasingly congested transport system.
As transport volumes continue to rise, this level of transparency is becoming an essential resource for drivers, transport companies and all road users alike.