Last resort for truckers? Lower Saxony is fighting against a shortage of truck parking spaces!

Last resort for truckers? Lower Saxony is fighting against a shortage of truck parking spaces!

In Germany there are rumbles on the motorways - and not just because of the traffic. A lack of truck parking spaces is causing increasing difficulties for truck drivers, especially in Lower Saxony. According to a recent study by Auto Club Europa (ACE), the situation is alarming. Between April and June of this year, the ACE team took a closer look at the parking options at 132 rest areas and found that the average occupancy rate was an impressive 151 percent. A significant part of the parking areas is therefore overused, which endangers traffic safety and causes great difficulties for truck drivers. [Süddeutsche Zeitung]. but 1,032 trucks were found in these areas.

The situation is particularly precarious at rest stops. A shocking 77 percent of the parking spaces examined are already occupied at entrances and exits or on the hard shoulder. This means that many truck drivers are forced to park their trucks in dangerous places. To illustrate the situation: A full occupancy rate of 207 percent was recorded at the Zweidorfer Holz Süd service area - there were 195 trucks there with only 94 parking spaces. In a nationwide comparison, the situation is not much better, with 7,664 trucks parked in 5,088 parking spaces, which also means an alarming occupancy rate of 151 percent, as Stern states.

problems and demands

However, the ACE spokeswoman advises caution and emphasizes that the observations should be understood as snapshots and should not be overestimated. Nevertheless, the ACE is pushing for essential measures: tens of thousands of additional truck parking spaces must be created and dangerous alternative parking areas must be urgently closed. The shortage is particularly pronounced on the main traffic axes, such as the A3 in Bavaria or the A5 between Frankfurt and Karlsruhe, which not only places a heavy burden on the transport industry but also on traffic safety, as the ADAC also states.

Around 23,500 truck drivers search in vain for a legal parking space along German highways every night. Only around 70,000 truckers can still find parking spaces at rest stops, truck stops or other parking areas. One solution could be the federal government investing 90 million euros in the construction of 4,000 new truck parking spaces - these should be built within a three-kilometer radius of motorway junctions. Such a project can address a sixth of the current parking space deficit and the introduction of smart parking systems would need to be promoted to expand capacity.

It is essential that these measures be implemented quickly so that truck drivers do not have to continue searching in vain for a safe place on the motorways. The current situation makes it clear: There is an urgent need for action here, because the lack of parking space on our streets is not only making traffic more expensive, but also more dangerous.