The often difficult search for an available parking spot along the highway is set to become easier for truck drivers: On Tuesday, the Digital Parking Information Service (SID) went live for 1,850 rest areas, according to an announcement by the Federal Ministry of Transport in Berlin. “This allows truck drivers to easily check the availability of truck parking spaces via an app and use this information early on in their search for a parking spot,” explained Transport Minister Patrick Schnieder (CDU).
According to the ministry, the system provides “near-real-time occupancy data for truck parking spaces at all highway rest areas, directly from the toll system to the federal government’s Mobilithek.” Providers of mobility and routing apps can integrate the data into their applications free of charge.
Transport Minister Schnieder sees this as a “digital upgrade with a major impact on freight transport and on Germany as a logistics hub.” This is because heavy traffic often makes it difficult for truck drivers to find a free parking spot for their mandatory rest periods. They sometimes end up parking in areas where parking is not permitted.
The new information service would also reduce “parking-search traffic,” Schnieder explained. This would ensure “greater traffic safety on our highways.” This would ensure “greater traffic safety on our highways.”
The parking space information service is a joint project of Toll Collect, the company that operates the truck toll system, the Federal Ministry of Transport, and the Federal Office for Logistics and Mobility, in cooperation with the federal government’s Autobahn GmbH and the Federal Highway Research Institute. According to the ministry, rest areas on federal highways and truck stops are also to be integrated into the service in a second phase.
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