Brussels, 6 March 2026: Bapaume Truck House in France was voted European Truck Parking of the Year 2026, whilst Truck Etape Béziers, again in France, was unanimously selected winner of both the Green Truck Parking Management Award 2026 and the newly-established ESPORG Home Away from Home Award.
The Excellence in Truck Parking Award international jury was composed of representatives of the European Commission and leading road transport stakeholders: insurer TVM Belgium, audit and certification body DEKRA, European Shippers Council – ESC and Freight Forwarding and Logistics – CLECAT, CSR Europe, parking operators EYSA, Mowiz Truck and social partners representing professional truck drivers ABVV – BTB as well as representatives of road hauliers IRU and UETR.
Numerous parking operators from across the EU applied for the Excellence in Truck Parking Award 2026. Following the closing of the application period, a total of 21 candidatures were submitted, with applicants competing for the Excellence Awards. These entries represent 15 unique parking locations, several of which applied in more than one category — a sign of growing ambition and interest among operators.
The jury commended the outstanding quality of all twenty-one applications, witnessing the consistent progress made over recent years in the quality of service and care offered to professional drivers by truck parking.
In particular, the jury praised the two winners by highlighting their exceptional achievements in terms of comfort and care for drivers, both female and male, raising the quality of their services from high performances to a genuine culture of care for both customers and environment.
“I am deeply honored to receive the Truck Parking Award, a recognition that reflects our commitment to safety, dignity, and innovation for professional drivers.
From the beginning, our ambition has been to transform a simple parking area into a secure and welcoming destination where drivers can truly rest and recover. Located in Bapaume, the site was designed to answer the growing demand for high-quality infrastructure along major European transport corridors. This achievement would not have been possible without the decisive support of ESPORG, whose expertise and guidance helped us access key funding opportunities and structure our development strategy. Their strong involvement in supporting secure parking operators across Europe — particularly through the Wellbeing Programme — plays a central role in improving everyday life for drivers.
Dirk Penasse and the entire ESPORG team are not only institutional partners, but also our key allies in promoting higher safety standards and better services. Together, we are raising the bar for safety, comfort, and respect for people in the logistics sector.
This award strengthens our determination to continue investing in innovation and driver wellbeing across France and beyond. Our objective remains clear: to make secure parking a cornerstone of safer roads and a more sustainable transport industry.
I dedicate this award to all truck drivers who travel thousands of kilometres away from their families, carrying Europe forward every day while doing a job that has become increasingly dangerous — a profession essential to our economies, yet one that too few people are still willing to do.”
Our ongoing projects to modernise facilities, open new catering sites, and further develop our parking areas confirm the objectives towards which we are progressing.
We would like to thank ESPORG for creating these labels and for having them validated by the European Commission for Transport, as they help meet the needs and expectations of all our drivers”.
The jury also commended the three runners-up, Recharge City, in the category “Excellence in Truck Parking”, LeShuttle Freight Village in the category “Home Away from Home” and Parking Truck Arena 31 in the category “Green Truck Parking Management”, who came second, at almost the same level as the winners for maintaining the exceptionally high quality of service and customer care, and awarded them, respectively, with the European Excellence in Truck Parking 2026 runner-up certificate, the Home Away from Home Award 2026 runner-up certificate and the Green Truck Parking Management Award runner-up certificate.
Ambassador Cosmin Boiangiu – Executive Director, European Labour Authority said: “ESPORG´s work and the awards being presented today, including the “Home Away from Home Award”, recognise exactly this: driver´s wellbeing depends on the quality, availability and security of parking infrastructure. We cannot ignore the reality that the shortage of drivers is becoming one of the most serious labour market challenges in European transport. Improving working conditions is therefore essential not only for fairness but for the resilience and competitiveness of Europe’s transport system. Safe parking, proper rest, enforcement of rules, and social standards all play a part. But equally important is the recognition of the value and professionalism of drivers.
I want to reaffirm ELA´s readiness to continue working closely with ESPORG, with the European Commission, with social partners, and with Member States. Together, we can ensure that enforcement is effective, that standards are clear and evenly applied, and that drivers experience the benefits of these efforts in their daily working lives.”
Francesco Corti, Member of the Cabinet of Executive Vice-President for Social Rights and Skills, Quality Jobs and Preparedness at the European Commission, said: ” Labor mobility should be free, but it must also be fair—fair for companies, fair for workers and fair for the authorities responsible for enforcing the rules we have in place.
If the workers in the EU road transport sector do not have access to safe and secure parking areas, in this case we cannot truly speak about good working conditions for the sector. Without adequate facilities, working conditions deteriorate, and with them the attractiveness of the sector.
Since I have the pleasure to announce the Home Away from Home award, I would like to emphasise its importance in promoting safe and secure parking areas. These are places where drivers can genuinely feel at home. This means not only having access to food, proper bathrooms and shower facilities, but also having the opportunity to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Whether a driver is a woman or a man, they should have the same possibility as anyone else who finishes work and goes home—to go for a run, to exercise, or to go to the gym.
ESPORG’s Wellbeing Initiative is therefore extremely important. We must actively promote parking areas that are both safe and secure. As the European Commission, we have a clear responsibility in this field, because it is an area where European action brings real added value.”
At the ESPORG Conference Award Ceremony on 4 March 2026, Michael Nielsen, President of ESPORG, commented: “First and foremost, we want to congratulate our winners and runners-up, and indeed all our applicants, for their outstanding achievement and quality of services to professional drivers. They are setting a standard in customer care and innovation for all our members to aim for and reach.”
Dirk Penasse, ESPORG’s General Manager, added: “These awards showcase concrete achievements and best practices that set new benchmarks for the parking of the future. Secure Parking Areas are evolving into strategic service hubs at the heart of Europe’s transport, energy transition and quality jobs agenda. Every certified parking area is a step toward a safer, greener and more socially responsible road transport future.”
The aim of the ESPORG Excellence in Truck Parking Award is to promote excellence and to help spread best practices in view of improving safety, security, sustainability and indeed quality of services offered by truck parking operators to professional truck drivers across Europe and beyond, and, by doing so, to enhance the attractiveness and appeal of the driver profession to an increasingly diverse and wider public, including young people and women.
- For more information, please contact: info@esporg.eu
- View more about the ESPORG Excellence in Truck Parking Award here: truckparkingaward.eu
