Parking in Your Pocket – A Lorry Driver's Best Friend in Europe

An Introduction to Truck Parking Europe

PTV have struck gold with this inventive community-driven app that has been downloaded over half a million times by truckers driving in Europe. As any trucker would know, it’s a constant battle between hitting the required resting quotas and doing so in a safe and comfortable place. I’m sure many of you have been there; internally weighing up the pros and cons of trying to squeeze your 40-tonne vehicle into a roadside space that would struggle to accommodate a van!

Well, say no more as this app makes it easy and safe to plan the stops along your route. Not only that, you can use the wide range of convenience features to help you find the perfect stop: whether you’re after a great view, some hot food, or even showers, you’ll be able to find it.

And like a fine wine, the app gets better with age, as the community and user-driven focus means that more stop sites will be added in time, and more detailed information will be added to existing sites.

Making The Most of Driving in Europe

• Find What You Need

At its core, the app provides a comprehensive database of over 25,000 parking spots and facilities for truckers on European highways. These have been sourced by the collective experience of the pan-European community and by partners such as ESPORG and DocStop ensuring the most up to date and complete catalogue.

With a slick interface and great ease of access features, it makes narrowing or widening your search a breeze as you can filter between several categories such as: comfort, security, and infrastructure. Alternatively, you can simply enter your destination into the app’s “driving mode” and you’ll be presented with a live rundown of every stop along your route as you travel. Additional functionality such as a driving time tracker and a “favourite spot” section also go a long way in providing the best experience for driving in Europe.

• Make Friends on the Road

There are some great social features that make this app exceptionally useful. Not only can you stay in touch with your fellow truckers through the app with dedicated messaging systems, but it also allows you to see if your friends are going on similar routes, or even if they're holed up at a nearby stop. This simply gives you another avenue for finding the best spots and facilities.

• Get Recommended Parking

Get involved in the community and create your own parking places which will be added to the database. No doubt it can be satisfying to see that you’ve helped your colleagues in their parking struggles, but it’s not just kind words from reviews that are the only rewards, users are incentivised by vouchers from petrol stations and other attractions that thank you for adding to the community.

On the flip side, you can also share your own views on existing spots so they’re more up to date.   

• Real Time Availability

One more incredible feature is the live “Occupancy Status” of parking spaces. This function shows a colour coded (red, yellow, and green) label which instantly lets you know  how busy certain parking spaces are. So, you’ll not have to worry about finding that dream spot and arriving to see that its completely full!

How to Get the App

The application is available on Android and Apple devices and can be found in the Google Play and Apple Store respectively. If you’re still not sold, you can even try it in your browser for a quick look which can be accessed by going to the Truck Parking Europe website.