Germany's SID truck parking data: free, open and already in your nav app

Germany now makes live HGV parking occupancy available free of charge across all 1,850 motorway rest areas via the Stellplatz-Informationsdienst (SID), which entered full nationwide operation on 2026-06-02. The data is published as open data on the federal Mobilithek platform, meaning any navigation, telematics or fleet software provider can integrate it at no cost. This matters because the European Commission estimates the EU is currently short of approximately 390,000 safe and secure HGV parking spaces - a gap expected to reach 483,000 by 2040 unless investment accelerates. Better data will not build new bays, but it can make every existing one easier to find.

This guide explains what SID is, why the feed is free, which platforms have already integrated it, and what operators should expect from the service as it continues to expand.

What is SID - Germany's truck parking information service?

SID stands for Stellplatz-Informationsdienst, which translates roughly as "parking space information service". It is a joint project operated by Toll Collect, the Federal Ministry of Transport (BMV), the Federal Office for Logistics and Mobility (BALM), Autobahn GmbH des Bundes and the Federal Highway Research Institute (BASt).

The service captures occupancy across Germany's motorway rest areas and publishes four status values for each location:

• spacesAvailable - the rest area has room for more trucks (green indicator in most integrations)
• almostFull - the rest area is approaching capacity (amber indicator)
• full - no spaces remain based on current toll data (red indicator)
• Unknown / closed - no data available for the location (grey indicator)

These four states are the only ones SID publishes. There are no exact space counts and no booking capability at the public motorway layer. The service is a real-time signal, not a reservation system.

Since 2026-01, all approximately 1,850 public rest areas on German motorways (Autobahn) have been covered. The pilot phase, which ran from mid-2025, covered around half that number. Foreign-registered HGVs have been included in the data since 2026-01, when European Electronic Toll Service (EETS) providers began supplying position data to complete the coverage.

Private Autohöfe (motorway service stations operated by commercial chains) and rest areas on federal Bundesstrassen are not yet in scope. Both are planned for a future expansion phase.

Why is the SID data free to use?

The data is published under the dl-de/by-2-0 licence, which is the German government's standard open-data licence. Under this licence, anyone can use, copy, distribute and adapt the data for any purpose - including commercial products - as long as the source is credited. There is no subscription fee, no per-call charge and no exclusivity clause.

Access is via the Mobilithek, the federal government's national access point for mobility data. To retrieve SID feeds, operators need to complete three registration steps: a Mobilithek account, membership of an organisation within the platform, and a specific SID data subscription. The process is self-service and the result is access to both the static dataset (rest-area locations, facilities, capacity classes) and the dynamic dataset (live occupancy states, updated every minute).

This model was deliberate. The BMV structured SID as a public-infrastructure data layer from the outset, on the reasoning that parking visibility is a road-safety issue as much as a logistics-efficiency issue. When drivers cannot find a space, they stop in unauthorised locations - slip roads, industrial estate entrances, field gateways. DEKRA surveys have found that close to two-thirds of German truck drivers report having to park in unauthorised locations at least occasionally in order to comply with rest-time rules under EC 561/2006. Making the data freely available removes the commercial barrier that would otherwise slow adoption by navigation and telematics providers.

How SID generates occupancy data from toll records

SID does not use cameras, sensors or manual counts. It derives occupancy from the truck toll system.

Every HGV subject to the German toll must continuously transmit position data to Toll Collect via an on-board unit (OBU) or a mobile app alternative. Toll Collect processes this stream to detect when a vehicle has stopped at or near a motorway rest area and is not moving. By counting how many toll-registered vehicles are stationary at each location, the system infers occupancy.

The data is pseudonymised before publication - individual vehicle identities are stripped out - and classified into the three occupancy bands. Updates are pushed to the Mobilithek every minute.

The methodology has one structural limitation: it only captures vehicles registered for German truck toll. Until the EETS integration was completed in 2026-01, foreign-registered trucks were invisible to the system, which led to systematic under-reporting of occupancy on corridors heavily used by Eastern European carriers. With EETS data now flowing in, coverage is materially better, though the methodology note in Toll Collect's published specification acknowledges that very short stops (under a threshold duration) may still be under-counted.

The published data format is DATEX II Profile for Intelligent Truck Parking (ITP), version 1.0 - the pan-European standard endorsed by the European Commission's National Access Points framework. This means SID is, in principle, interoperable with parking data feeds from other member states that have adopted the same profile.

Which apps and platforms have integrated SID?

Since the data became freely available, several navigation, toll and fleet-management platforms have announced integrations. Below is a comparison of the confirmed integrations as of June 2026.

HERE WeGo Pro

In early June 2026, HERE Technologies announced that SID data from Toll Collect had been integrated directly into HERE WeGo Pro , its professional truck navigation application. The integration embeds parking availability as a native layer within the navigation experience, so drivers receive occupancy status for upcoming rest areas without switching to a separate app. HERE and Toll Collect have an existing relationship around location data; this integration extends it to the operational parking layer.

The significance of HERE's move is scale: HERE WeGo Pro is used by fleets across Europe, meaning SID's reach extended significantly the moment HERE shipped the update. Operators running fleet navigation on HERE-connected devices gained German parking visibility without any configuration change on their end.

Toll4Europe

Toll4Europe, which operates as an EETS provider primarily for German HGV toll, integrated SID into its companion smartphone app in July 2025 - before the full nationwide rollout. The app displays occupancy status and facility information (showers, fuel, toilets, shops) for locations, allowing drivers to compare options in a single interface. Coverage in the current app stands at approximately 1,000 of the 1,850 motorway locations, with expansion planned to match the full SID dataset.

Infoware MapTrip and Bosch Secure Truck Parking

Infoware, the developer of MapTrip Truck navigation and MapTrip Maps route-planning software, partnered with both Toll Collect and Bosch Road Services to create a combined public-plus-private parking view. The integration went live for the full motorway dataset in January 2026. In the combined view, dispatchers and drivers see public SID occupancy alongside bookable Bosch Secure Truck Parking spaces at the same locations or nearby, sorted by remaining driving time. When a driver books a secure space, booking details are pushed automatically to the MapTrip Truck app on their device.

This model points toward what SID can enable beyond the free public layer: by pairing open government data with private reservation systems, operators can move from "there is probably space here" to "I have confirmed space here, at this cost, with cargo security included".

How to access SID data via Mobilithek

Developers and fleet-software providers who want to integrate SID directly can do so at no cost. The feed is available at mobilithek.info under the Stellplatz-Informationsdienst dynamic-data offering.

1. Register on Mobilithek - create a personal account on the platform.
2. Join or create an organisation - data access is granted at organisation level, not individual level.
3. Subscribe to the SID offer - the platform then provides the endpoint credentials for the DATEX II feed.

Both static and dynamic datasets are available separately. The static dataset covers rest-area names, coordinates, capacities, facilities and categories. The dynamic dataset provides the live occupancy states, refreshed every minute.

Toll Collect also publishes a technical specification (Leistungsbeschreibung) and a methodology document explaining data derivation, classification thresholds and known limitations. These are accessible directly from the company.toll-collect.de product page.

For operators who want a ready-made view rather than building their own integration, Logifie's free SID parking map visualises the live feed on an interactive map, updated every minute, with no login required. It covers all 1,850 German motorway rest areas and uses the same green-amber-red status indicators defined in the DATEX II specification. Drivers can check current occupancy before departure, dispatchers can monitor corridor availability during active trips, and no registration is needed.

Does real-time data actually solve the parking shortage?

No - and it is worth being clear about this.

SID improves information. It does not add capacity. Germany was short of roughly 19,627 HGV parking spaces as of 2023, according to figures from the Federal Ministry of Transport's own assessments. Across Europe, the European Commission estimates a deficit of approximately 390,000 safe and secure spaces. Those deficits are physical. A data feed does not build bays.

What SID can do is reduce the inefficiency that compounds the physical shortage. When a driver does not know which of the three rest areas ahead has space, the default strategy is often to stop at the nearest one and hope. If it is full, the driver either parks illegally or drives on, burning driving time and potentially pushing against the EC 561/2006 rest-time limits. With live occupancy data, the driver can see ten minutes ahead which area is likely to have room, reducing both illegal parking and unnecessary extra driving.

DKV Mobility's analysis of the parking crisis estimated that the combination of searching and illegal parking costs the European freight sector significant time per driver per week. SID's contribution is to eliminate most of that search time on German motorways - but only for the 1,850 locations it currently covers, and only for carriers whose navigation or fleet systems have integrated the feed.

The IRU has consistently called for physical investment to accompany digital tools. The EU's Safe and Secure Truck Parking scheme certifies parking sites against security and facility standards, but as of 2024 only around 4,943 EU spaces hold that certification against an estimated 380,000 total spaces. SID does not address security quality, only occupancy visibility.

What comes next: federal roads, private truck stops and EETS expansion

The BMV has signalled three extension phases beyond the current motorway rollout.

Federal Bundesstrassen - rest areas on Germany's Bundesstrassen network are not yet in scope. These routes carry significant freight, particularly for regional distribution and cross-border traffic on lower-classification roads. No date has been confirmed for inclusion.

Private Autohöfe and truck stop operators - commercial truck stop chains operate a significant share of Germany's parking capacity, often with better security and facilities than motorway rest areas. Toll Collect has indicated that privately operated sites will be invited to supply data to a future expanded SID feed, which would create a single access point for both public and private availability. The MapTrip-Bosch integration is a preview of how this can work when the data layers are combined.

EETS and foreign carrier data quality - since 2026-01, EETS providers supply position data to fill the gap left by foreign-registered trucks without German OBUs. Data quality for non-German carriers is expected to improve incrementally as more EETS providers complete technical integration.

The European Commission's ITS Directive (2010/40/EU) and its delegated regulations on priority services include truck parking data as a priority area. Germany's SID, built on the DATEX II ITP profile, is aligned with the Commission's National Access Point requirements, which means it is technically positioned to contribute to a future pan-European parking data layer if other member states adopt the same standard.

For carriers operating cross-border routes, the practical implication is that Germany currently offers the most complete free motorway parking data of any EU member state. The Logifie public holiday calendar and EU fuel price map give dispatchers complementary tools for corridor planning alongside the SID parking layer - particularly useful on days when toll bans or national holidays affect parking demand.

Frequently asked questions

Is SID data free for commercial use?

Yes. SID data is published under the dl-de/by-2-0 open-data licence, which permits commercial use without fee. Any navigation, telematics or fleet software provider can integrate the feed and build commercial products on top of it, as long as Toll Collect is credited as the data source. There is no subscription, no per-call charge and no exclusivity restriction.

Which apps currently show SID parking data?

As of June 2026, confirmed integrations include HERE WeGo Pro (HERE Technologies), the Toll4Europe companion app, Infoware's MapTrip Truck and MapTrip Maps (combined with Bosch Secure Truck Parking), and Logifie's free SID parking map at logifie.com/sid-parking. The Mobilithek dataset is public, so additional integrations from telematics and fleet-management providers are likely to follow without formal announcements.

Does SID cover private truck stops (Autohoefe)?

Not yet. The current service covers only public motorway rest areas on the Autobahn network - approximately 1,850 locations. Private Autohöfe and rest areas on federal Bundesstrassen are planned for a future phase. The BMV has not published a timeline for that expansion.

How often is the occupancy data updated?

SID updates the occupancy status for each location every minute. The data is derived from the truck toll system, which processes position pings from on-board units continuously. There is an inherent lag between a vehicle arriving or leaving and the status changing, but in practice the feed is described as near real-time by Toll Collect.

Can foreign-registered trucks be tracked by SID?

From 2026-01, yes - partially. EETS provider data has been integrated to capture foreign-registered HGVs that do not carry a German Toll Collect OBU. Coverage depends on which EETS providers have completed their technical integration with Toll Collect. Before 2026-01, foreign trucks were not visible to SID, which led to systematic under-reporting on corridors with high Eastern European traffic volumes.

What does almostFull mean in SID data?

Toll Collect classifies a location as almostFull (amber) when the occupancy count, derived from toll position data, approaches but has not yet reached the rest area's theoretical capacity. The exact threshold percentage is defined in the DATEX II specification and may vary by location size. In practice, almostFull means a driver arriving soon is likely to find space, but arriving significantly later may not. The status is a guide, not a guarantee.

How do I integrate SID data into my own application?

Register on the Mobilithek platform , join or create an organisation, and subscribe to the SID dynamic-data offering. Toll Collect provides DATEX II endpoint credentials and a technical specification document. The data feed format is DATEX II Profile for Intelligent Truck Parking (ITP) version 1.0, which is the same standard used by National Access Points across the EU.

What is the difference between SID and Bosch Secure Truck Parking?

SID provides free, real-time occupancy data for public motorway rest areas managed by Autobahn GmbH. Bosch Secure Truck Parking is a separate, commercial service that covers privately operated certified parking facilities with booking capability and cargo security guarantees. The two can be combined, as Infoware's MapTrip integration demonstrates: SID provides the public-layer view and Bosch provides the bookable private-layer view in the same interface. SID has no booking function of its own.

For dispatchers planning routes through Germany, the most practical starting point is Logifie's free SID parking map - no registration required, live occupancy updated every minute across all 1,850 German motorway rest areas, using the same green-amber-red indicators defined in the official DATEX II specification.