Association criticizes overcrowded truck parking spaces on freeways

Many thousands of truck parking spaces are missing on freeways in Germany - following a check at rest areas, the Auto Club Europa (ACE) is complaining about a considerable risk to traffic. From April 15 to June 3, the traffic club counted how many trucks were parked on highways after 8:30 pm. In eastern Germany, the situation on the southern Berlin ring road (A10) and the A24 in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, for example, is said to have been particularly risky due to incorrectly parked trucks.

In Saxony, the Oberlausitz Nord service area on the A4 near Bautzen stood out in the test with an overcrowding rate of 165 percent, as did the Nöthnitzgrund Süd and Nord service areas on the A17 near Dresden. With overcrowding of 100 and 120 percent, more than twice as many trucks were counted there as parking spaces.

"From 4 p.m. or 5 p.m., the petty war for parking spaces begins," says Dirk Engelhardt, spokesman for the Federal Association of Road Haulage, Logistics and Disposal (BGL). The federal government wants to curb the bottlenecks and points out, among other things, that the number of parking spaces has been steadily increased since 2018.

ACE: Major overcrowding at rest areas in eastern Germany

Although the ACE truck count is a snapshot, it revealed massive overcrowding at 31 rest areas surveyed in the eastern German states, according to the transport club. A total of 2,168 parked trucks were counted there, according to the club. According to the federal highway company, there are 1,412 spaces available at these rest areas, resulting in an overcrowding rate of around 50 percent.

According to the ACE, specific traffic hazards were identified at 21 of the 31 rest areas inspected, particularly at night when visibility was limited. Trucks were parked particularly frequently in the entrances and exits. In addition, trucks were sometimes parked in spaces intended for cars. "On a positive note, there were no trucks parked on the hard shoulder of the freeway at any rest area," it said.

Association: parking space shortage should be a top priority for the ministry

According to a survey conducted by the Federal Highway Research Institute in 2023, there is a shortage of more than 19,500 regular truck parking spaces on
the freeways across Germany. The number of trucks parked at night is therefore more than 102,000. The Federal Highway Research Institute stated that there were 82,490 parking spaces.

The Federal Association of Road Haulage, Logistics and Disposal considers the shortage of space to be greater and cites a lack of around 40,000 parking spaces. It demanded: "It is important that the Ministry of Transport makes this a top priority."

According to the Federal Ministry of Transport, around 3,000 parking spaces were added between 2018 and 2023. In addition, telematic parking procedures, for example, are intended to ensure more effective use of parking spaces.