Secure parking places for trucks and commercial vehicles has been listed as a top priority in the ITS Action Plan and the ITS Directive 2010/40/EU. European truck drivers need to have appropriate information on safe and secure parking places.
Truck drivers in Europe are often confronted with insufficient number of parking facilities and therefore often park in non-secured zones or unsafe locations like hard shoulders, exposing themselves and other road users to potential thefts and high risk of accidents. The Commission is therefore active to improve the situation:
Overall capacity of truck parking areas needs to be improved: The revised 2013 TEN-T guidelines foresee for road transport infrastructure of the core network the development of rest areas on motorways approximately every 100 km to provide appropriate parking space for commercial road users with an appropriate level of safety and security.
Existing capacity needs to be optimised by digital information on for instance the location, equipment and facilities of existing parking areas: Specifications have been adopted by the Commission (delegated Regulation (EU) N°. 885/2013) on 15 May 2013 to facilitate the exchange of data and to ensure EU-wide accessible information providing an up-to-date inventory of safe and secure parking spaces for trucks along the main European transport corridors to enable the provision of services. More information on the ITS Directive and delegated Regulation 885/2013 (including links to the actual legal documents).
European Access Point for Truck Parking Data
In accordance with Article 5 of Commission delegated Regulation (EU) No 885/2013 in the framework of the ITS Directive 2010/40/EU public or private parking operators and service providers shall share and exchange data related to safe and secure parking areas through a national or international access point. The Commission is managing a European Access Point for Truck Parking Data to enable continuity of services throughout the EU.
The European Access Point for Truck Parking aims to provide access to safe & secure truck parking data in DATEX II format. At this moment the Access Point only supports static data.
European Union Open Data Portal