The ACE Auto Club Europa took the German Road Safety Council’s (DVR) Day of Road Safety on June 21, 2025, as an opportunity to examine the occupancy of truck stops on German highways.
The motto of the action, in which volunteers recorded the occupancy of 132 highway rest stops across Germany between April 15 and June 3, 2025, was "No Space, No Stop? Parking Shortage as a Traffic Risk!".
Results
Traffic-endangering situations were documented at 76 percent of the examined rest areas, with an average overcapacity of 51 percent, according to the conclusion.
A systematic documentation of the actual occupancy was conducted. The results:
- 5,088 regular truck parking spaces were available. 7,664 trucks were actually parked – corresponding to an average overcapacity of 51 percent (2,576 additional trucks). In the worst cases, the overcapacity even extended to well over 200 or even 300 percent. Only at 16 percent of the rest areas were any free truck parking spaces available, according to the ACE.
- At 100
- of the 132 facilities (76 percent), at least one traffic-endangering parking situation was documented. A total of 455 trucks posed an acute traffic hazard, for example, in entrances or exits or on hard shoulders.
- At 59 percent of the rest areas, trucks were parked in the entrances or exits.
- At around 15 percent of the rest areas, the hard shoulder was misused. This poses a significant risk to all road users.
- 526 trucks blocked car parking spaces – at 22 facilities (17 percent), safe parking for cars was no longer possible.
The automobile club describes the situation as particularly precarious on the heavily trafficked East-West transit axes, in the Berlin metropolitan area, around Frankfurt am Main, as well as on the A3 in Bavaria and the A5 between Frankfurt and Karlsruhe.
"The numbers speak a clear language: Whoever is looking for a parking space as a truck driver today is often forced to stop at unsuitable places," warns Sven-Peter Rudolph, chairman of the ACE. He
adds: "We have regularly observed overcrowded rest areas, blocked access roads, or trucks parked on the hard shoulder in recent weeks. The lack of parking spaces significantly hampers the necessary rest time for drivers and simultaneously endangers the safety of car traffic. There is an urgent need for political action here.”
About the precise methodology
The survey was conducted as part of a nationwide volunteer action by the ACE using a uniform survey form.
During the period from Monday to Friday at 8:30 p.m., volunteers documented the number of official truck parking spaces, the actual number of parked trucks, traffic-endangering parking situations – including the use of entrances/exits or hard shoulders as replacement parking areas – and the blocking of car parking spaces at 132 rest facilities in 13 federal states (city-states were not considered).
Demands
According to the automobile club, the results are alarming. The ACE therefore demands from the federal government and Autobahn GmbH:
- Expansion of truck parking capacity: The demand is clearly
- documented. Tens of thousands of truck parking spaces are missing nationwide. Only through additional capacities can safety at rest areas be ensured in the long term.
- Better use of existing infrastructure: Through optimized space allocation, structural conversions and extensions, as well as needs-based redesigns, existing facilities could be used more efficiently according to the ACE. Additionally, particularly dangerous areas should be structurally altered so that they no longer invite alternative parking.
- Expand digital parking space management: The ACE welcomed the already started pilot projects for digital parking space display with real-time information. These should be rolled out nationwide to facilitate the search for free parking spaces and avoid unnecessary trips.
"Safe rest periods are non-negotiable – neither from the perspective of occupational safety nor road safety," says ACE chairman Sven-Peter Rudolph. "Only if the infrastructure is improved, can we create the conditions under which truck drivers can work safely and in compliance with regulations – in the interest of all road users on our highways.”
