by Walther Ploos van Amstel
In the past two years, Ecorys supported the European Commission via the ‘Study on urban mobility – Preparation of EU guidelines on urban logistics’. This study was led by a consortium formed by Ecorys, University of Antwerp, University of Lisbon, and Prof. Laetitia Dablanc.
Crowdshipping might seem the ultimate solution for city logistics, though executing a seamless operation with outdated systems can be a hassle. If the correct tools are not used properly, companies could spend too much time labeling, sorting and routing shipments .
As the steady rise of e-commerce pushes logistics companies and their retail partners to deliver more parcels, faster, speedy delivery is becoming a major competitive advantage. And no company has capitalized on this opening like Amazon, which has made a name for itself in fulfillment with its Prime and Prime Now delivery offerings.
Construction is a necessity to create attractive and sustainable cities. However, the transport of goods and personnel to construction sites disturbs residents, businesses and road users. The CIVIC project is focused on the mitigation the negative impact through dialog, logistics optimization and smart governance.
Udelv unveiled its autonomous, electric, last-mile delivery vehicle and made the first public road test deliveries from Draeger’s Market in San Mateo to two nearby customers. The deliver route was a 3 kilometre loop with traffic lights, lane changes, unsignalized left turns and two delivery stops.
People complain on social media about light commercial vehicles (LCVs) in their neighborhood. There are too many, it’s not safe and not healthy. Is that criticism justified? Only 2 to 3 percent of the nearly 1 million LCVs in the Netherlands are involved in the delivering home shopping parcels to consumers.
Urban Consolidation Centres (UCCs) are often conceived as an enabler to alleviate negative effects associated with distribution of goods in cities, such as traffic congestion and hazardous emissions. UCCs not only have the potential to reduce these effects but also provide alternative distribution solutions by introducing new transhipment points.
UK-based company Ocado has been credited with revolutionising the UK’s e-grocery arena. An online player with cutting-edge technology, a centralised hub-based delivery system and lucrative partnerships with high-end retailers, and Ocado is profitable. Sales in 2017 are expected to grow towards 1,5 bln Euro. Net margin was 1%.
More European cities see construction logistics as part of urban freight policies, but also a lot of European cities do not have any initiatives yet. However, the awareness to deal with urban construction logistics is growing. These are the conclusions of the latest SUCCESS-report on the experience and maturity of 12 European cities in construction logistics.
Industry is collaborating on a new programme designed to minimise the impact of the increasing amount of construction in London and to ultimately improve safety and air quality. The Construction Logistics programme, delivered in association with Transport for London and the Chartered Institute for Logistics and Transport, sees a broad range of industry involvement and …