Aparkado secures ESA funding to advance its real-time parking intelligence

Aparkado UG, the company behind LKW.APP, has been awarded a contract under the “Business Applications and Space Solutions” (BASS) programme of the European Space Agency (ESA) for its “Truck Parking Guidance System” (TruPaG) project.

With this project, Aparkado continues to pursue its long-term mission of addressing the shortage of truck parking spaces as a structural challenge within European road freight transport. Since launching the platform, Aparkado has viewed truck parking not as an isolated driver problem, but as a core operational factor affecting efficiency, safety and planning reliability across the entire logistics value chain.

“Truck parking remains one of the most underestimated bottlenecks in European logistics,” says Roland Moussavi, Founder of Aparkado. “LKW.APP already supports drivers today with real-time data and predictive parking forecasts. With ESA’s support, we are now further advancing this parking intelligence to make predictions even more precise, reliable and scalable across Europe. This helps drivers, transport companies and digital logistics platforms make better decisions at an earlier stage.”

The next generation of intelligent parking predictions

Building on the existing foundation of LKW.APP, Aparkado will use the ESA funding to strategically expand its parking intelligence, optimize existing prediction models and evaluate additional approaches to further improve forecasting accuracy. By combining the current model with historical and real-time truck movement data, the company aims to increase the reliability of parking predictions at scale.

As part of the project, various data sources will be analysed and compared in order to identify the most reliable methods and further strengthen data-driven decision-making in freight transport.

At the core of the TruPaG system is Aparkado’s proprietary prediction model, which already translates real-time and movement data into actionable recommendations for LKW.APP users today. As the first platform to integrate real-time parking data from Autobahn GmbH and Toll Collect, Aparkado already provides up-to-date parking information for Germany directly within LKW.APP.

Building on this foundation, TruPaG expands the current approach by incorporating additional truck movement data to extend parking predictions across a broader network of parking locations and improve prediction accuracy in different regions.

Within the TruPaG project, the existing system is being further developed into an even more intelligent and context-based parking guidance system that continuously evaluates factors such as current occupancy, remaining driving time and individual driver preferences. Existing and new prediction approaches are continuously analysed and optimized to further improve the reliability of parking recommendations.

These capabilities enable context-aware parking recommendations that dynamically adapt to real-world conditions and provide a more accurate representation of actual parking availability along European transport corridors.

Added value for drivers, transport companies and digital platforms

Truck drivers across Europe already benefit from LKW.APP in their daily operations. With more than 400,000 downloads, usage in 44 European countries, and average ratings of 4.6 on Google Play and 4.7 in the App Store, the platform has established itself as a trusted solution for finding parking.

Drivers benefit from improved planning reliability, can avoid unnecessary detours, reduce stress and minimise the risk of exceeding legal driving-time limits. Through the advancements driven by TruPaG, these benefits will become even more precise and reliable, enabling drivers to make better decisions earlier and secure suitable parking before challenges arise.

This direct support for drivers also creates clear operational advantages for transport companies. More accurate parking decisions lead to more predictable operations, optimized route and driving-time management, and reduced fuel consumption caused by unnecessary mileage. Improved planning reliability supports more sustainable transport processes and strengthens competitiveness in a market where efficiency and driver satisfaction are critical.

Aparkado provides these capabilities to transport companies through a dedicated subscription model, enabling them to improve planning reliability, streamline internal processes and strengthen operational performance.

For transport management systems (TMS) and digital logistics platforms, Aparkado also provides access to its parking intelligence through a dedicated API. This enables providers to integrate real-time and predictive parking data directly into their systems, improving ETA calculations, increasing planning accuracy and enabling more transparent and data-driven transport processes. By integrating parking intelligence into their core systems, TMS providers can expand their capabilities and deliver more reliable solutions to their customers.

With the “Truck Parking Guidance System”, Aparkado demonstrates how solving a core operational challenge can create value across the entire logistics ecosystem. ESA funding accelerates the further development of this approach and strengthens the connection between drivers, transport companies and digital platforms through a shared data layer — contributing to a more efficient, transparent and resilient logistics infrastructure.