Truck Parking
Worse than finding a needle in a haystack — that’s how it often feels for truck drivers to find a truck parking space!
For years, there has been a glaring shortage of truck parking spaces in Germany. As the Bundesverband Güterkraftverkehr Logistik und Entsorgung (BGL) e.V. (Federal Association of Road Haulage, Logistics and Disposal) announced in a press release in 2019, there is a shortage of around 35,000 — 40,000 truck parking spaces in Germany. Shortly before the end of the driving and rest period, the wild search for a parking space begins new every day for the drivers. Often ending up on freeway slip roads or hard shoulders.
To help drivers in this already tense situation and simplify the truck parking search, we have always integrated truck parking spaces in our MapTrip GPS app. Across Europe, there are approximately 15,718 parking lots, 251 truck stops and 6,773 rest stops listed (TomTom map data 2021.09), providing drivers with navigation and parking lot search convenience in one app. Since we also want to consistently provide the best service with the least distraction for drivers, we have further refined the parking lot search since the beginning of the year.
Truck parking spaces as POIs (points of interest) in the navigation map
Drivers can now simply tap a parking space on the map and start navigating to it.
This is because truck parking spaces are now represented by a green, orange or red parking space symbol on the map.
The color differentiation allows the driver to see at a glance what type of truck parking lot it is:
Green = simple parking lots on the highway without special facilities.
Orange = rest stops on the highway with gas station, parking lot and comfort facilities.
Red = truck stops off the highway with comfort facilities.
Tap — start route guidance — done.
But MapTrip can do much more!
Find the nearest truck parking along the route
MapTrip also shows the nearest parking lot along the route, as well as an overview list of all parking lots along the route.
The parking lot icon in the lower right corner of Traffic Companion takes the driver to the detailed view of the nearest truck parking lot. The KM display shows how far away the next parking lot or service area is. The driver can now directly start the route guidance there or display all parking places along the route in a list.
The respective distance of the rest stops is of course also indicated so that the driver can select the correct parking space within his remaining driving time.
The list can also be called up via the menu item Truck Parking.
Since the driver spends his free time end of the day at the rest stop, it is especially important to know what comfort facilities awaits him at the rest stops.
Therefore, all the information about the comfort facilities is given in the detail view. Is there a restaurant, toilets, showers, a store, a gas station, repair facilities or a hotel / motel.
Clear and practical, the driver receives all the information in an app.
We can only thank all truck drivers for the great job they do for us. Especially in times of crisis, it shows again and again how important they are for our supply and our quality of life. We would like to do our part to make the drivers’ working day more comfortable and safer.
Dear truck drivers — we are always open to requests and suggestions on the subject of truck parking and look forward to hearing from you.