Image: Truck stops in Europe
For truck drivers on the road, finding a safe place to park their trucks has long been a hassle. Highway parking is not available most of the time, with spots reserved in advance at many locations or booked on a monthly basis. The story is no different across Europe either, where drivers face similar harassment to their counterparts in the US, as they search for a safe parking space at the end of their day.
Truck stops in Europe, a startup based in Utrecht, Netherlands, has created an online platform that helps truck drivers plan their routes across Europe by showing them safe parking spaces available on the road, and also allowing them to reserve their spots online. Drivers can use this service through the company’s mobile app or via desktop, with fleets expanding this functionality as well.
Niels de Zwaan, CEO of Truck Parking Europe, explained that the idea behind the startup came from his observations of the issues associated with truck parking while he was in Germany with his family on a ski trip.
“I noticed when I stopped to refuel that there were many trucks parked on the German autobahn, and the parking area was completely full. But after 10 minutes, I noticed a large parking lot outside the autobahn where 50 percent of the spaces were empty,” De Zwaan said. “This got me thinking about creating a mobile app that could help drivers find alternative parking off the highway.”
In the four years since its inception, Truck Parking Europe has expanded from offering around 9,000 truck parking spaces to over 34,000 parking spaces, making it a unique database across Europe. “All the reservable parking spaces we offer are secure. We have direct relationships and continue to look for them with secure truck parking operators and also with subsidiary organizations such as the Transportable Assets Protection Association (TAPA),” said De Zwaan.
Today Truck Parking Europe is the largest platform in the sector with over 1 million app downloads and offers 41 bookable parking spaces across Europe.
“Initially, when we were collecting information on truck stops, we noticed that the amount of stolen goods in Europe is huge. Goods theft accounts for more than 8 billion euros ($9.02 billion) each year, which is one of the reasons why many drivers Trucks are looking forward to using our solution to secure a secure parking spot “Our users are spread across 13 countries and can locate parking spaces across Europe with our app. We provide secure, bookable parking along Europe’s nine major transport corridors.
De Zwaan stated that the feedback the startup received from its drivers was very positive, with the app receiving a rating of 4.5 out of 5 on Google Play. Truck Parking Europe strives to improve based on the information it receives from truck drivers. To get more information about truck drivers’ needs, the company visits showrooms and conducts surveys through its app and through social media to get more perspective.
For example, several truck drivers sent inquiries to the startup asking if it could help them locate trucks that would provide them with washing machines to clean their clothes. Based on this demand, Truck Parking Europe has introduced a feature that can help drivers identify parking lots that also offer services such as washing machines.
“The challenge now is to maintain the installs we have and continue using the app by making sure we are constantly improving the solution. If we look at the booking platform, the challenge is to make sure we have enough supply and demand for Both sides.” “On the one hand, we need to make sure we have enough bookable truck parking, and on the other hand, we need to make sure we have enough relationships with dispatchers in Europe who are willing to make reservations on the platform.” It recently acquired The startup also has a new concept called “depot parking” – an AirBnB-like model for truck parking.
The idea behind warehouse parking is to have consignors across Europe who own parking lots look to rent out their parking spaces temporarily when their trucking fleet is out of Europe. “Everyone always says there’s never enough safe parking anywhere, but if you can convince carriers and dispatchers to rent out their parking lots to other truckers, it can be a win-win situation,” De Zwaan said. “Parking in the warehouse can now be done through our app. It is an interesting concept for the market and we have had excellent feedback on it.
