by Walther Ploos van Amstel
New brown vans gliding through the streets of London are part of a plan by UPS to electrify its full central London fleet of 170 vehicles. UPS has converted about one-third of its diesel vehicles to electric vehicles. UPS executives say that through their experiments, they have solved issues like high costs and putting too much strain …
UPS has begun a pilot with Latch smart access devices to enable in-building deliveries to multi-unit homes in New York City, providing increased security and convenience for residents who are not at home to receive packages.
Major European cities have become a testing ground for the next phase of city delivery for UPS. UPS Chief Information and Engineering Officer Juan Perez talked about the future of the UPS network; how they are integrating technology to connect the facilities, fleet, drivers and information systems fueling a more sustainable global network.
The delivery of packages ordered online can be made much more sustainable: “Unnecessarily large vehicles are essentially transporting air,” says Walther Ploos van Amstel, professor of city logistics at Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, on Twinkle. The way he sees it, there are twice as many delivery vans driving around in the city as necessary.
UPS announced it plans to deploy 50 plug-in electric delivery trucks that will be comparable in acquisition cost to conventional-fueled trucks without any subsidies. This is an industry first that is breaking a key barrier to large scale fleet adoption.
City logistics makes an important contribution to the quality of life that people experience in cities. The liveability of cities is under pressure, partly caused by growing number of ‘last mile’ E-commerce deliveries. Various (f)actors involved in the last mile have led to smart initiatives in the sector.
UPS is testing a depot-to-door delivery system in central London. The Low Impact City Logistics project will reduce traffic congestion and emissions associated with urban package delivery by using a power-assisted delivery trailer.
The growth of e-commerce has helped spur development in the logistics sector for warehousing, sorting, transporting and delivering goods. But urban areas present unique challenges in that regard, and many logistics companies are worried how that plays into business growth and sustainability, according to a recent UPS and GreenBiz survey.
Growth in e-commerce has led to increasing use of light goods vehicles for parcel deliveries in urban areas. A new paper by UK researchers provides an insight into the reasons behind this growth and the resulting effort required to meet the exacting parcel services offered by e-retailers which often lead to poor vehicle utilisation in the …
Pick any other major city the US, and the situation’s probably the same: a massive surge in deliveries to residential dwellings, one that’s outstripping deliveries to commercial establishments and creating a traffic nightmare. Citylab reports on the changing parcel delivery market from B2B to B2C.