Category «Business»

E-commerce and logistics sprawl: a spatial exploration of last-mile logistics platforms

The rise of e-commerce helped fuel consumer appetite for quick home deliveries. One consequence has been the placing of some logistics facilities in proximity to denser consumer markets. The trend departs from the prevailing discussion on “logistics sprawl,” or the proliferation of warehousing into the urban periphery. A recent study by Fried and Goodchild spatially …

Ducktrain filed for insolvency

DroidDrive GmbH (Ducktrain) filed for insolvency with the Aachen District Court. A lawyer was appointed provisional insolvency administrator and is now looking for new investors. DroidDrive was founded in 2018 and specialized in developing a special transport vehicle for city logistics. It is the so-called Ducktrains a kind of electric trailer, which should automatically follow …

Shift to cargo bike deliveries could save UK taxpayers £4bn

Analysis suggests that if delivery companies switched to using cargo bikes instead of diesel vans for first and last-mile deliveries, it would save the UK NHS and other Government services more than £4 billion. The cost savings, claimed by cargo bike delivery firm Pedal and Post and researchers at Just Economics, are derived from reduced …

Net zero in 2050: how will transport companies survive?

The logistics sector must be net zero by 2050. But all measures proposed will create an uneven playing field with selective access to logistics capabilities, people, money, data, and energy. So how will transport companies survive? I was asked to lecture on sustainability for a group of CEOs from European transport companies. I hyperventilated. What …

The Wing Delivery Network: coming in 12 months

Companies worldwide have been working for over a decade to develop drone technologies that will work together with ground transportation to improve last-mile delivery. Wing Delivery Network’s ultimate vision is to deliver people’s packages more efficiently and safely as part of an automated logistics system that moves boxes by the millions. The economics of drone …

Turning customer returns into profit and retention

The seventh annual FT 1000 ranking, compiled with data provider Statista, identifies those companies that have flourished and expanded, many benefiting as corporate and consumer demands shifted with the ebb and flow of the pandemic. In addition, the Financial Times ranking lists those European companies that achieved the highest compound annual growth rate in revenue …

What to do when addresses and entrances don’t match up?

Confused delivery drivers add time, cost, and frustration to deliveries. Much of this confusion comes from addresses and entrances not matching up exactly. Tech companies want to close the data gap between an address and a completed delivery. From accurate point-to-point navigation, finding unaddressed locations, assisting emergency and humanitarian organizations to help people in their …