United States-European Commission Urban Freight Twinning Initiative: Compendium of Project Summaries
Overview of Second Annual Urban Freight Roundtable at 2017 Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting

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Pilot

United States

Off-hour Delivery Trusted Vendor Program

The main goal of this project is to develop and implement a self-sustainable Trusted Vendor Program (TVP) to help foster off-hour deliveries in urban areas. It is believed that a TVP endorsed by trustworthy organizations can increase participation in off-hour delivery by helping vendors earn trust from receivers. This program is intended to provide information to customers about shippers and carriers who fulfill the conditions that will make them "trusted" to receivers, in a way that is both community-friendly and that does not put the receiving establishment at risk.

The project contemplated four main tasks: Market Assessment and Marketing Plan, Identification of Trusted Vendor Qualifications and Evaluation Criteria, Implementation Design, and Implementation of TVP. The methodology included a review of existing programs (similar to TVP), followed by a preliminary design of the program that is discussed with partners. Private industries were further engaged using a focus group format, principally receiver and vendor establishments to gain an understanding of the key attributes that matter for them within the program. For this purpose, a survey was designed to facilitate discussions in each focus group to obtain key insights of the businesses' needs related to the program. The final design is refined at this stage. The implementation stage of the project includes a pilot of the TVP.

Project Type

Pilot

Period of Performance

January 2015 - December 2017

Project Site(s)

New York City

Website

None

Contact

Jeffrey Wojtowicz
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
(518) 276-2759
WojtoJ@rpi.edu

Challenges Addressed

• Congestion
• Parking
• Safety

Expected Outcomes

The final deliverable will be a final report that will describe the results of the development and implementation of the TVP.

Stakeholder Involvement

The project will seek involvement from private industries, principally receiver and vendor establishments, as they are directly involved in focus groups and the pilot study. This is done in collaboration with the New York City Department of Transportation, Trucking Association of New York, and the Grand Central Partnership.