United States - European Commission Urban Freight Twinning Initiative: Compendium of Project Summaries, Volume II
Overview of 2018-2019 International Urban Freight Roundtables
| Research | Pilot | European Union |
Increasing Operational Collaboration Among Freight Carriers
Freight transport currently makes up about 16 percent of all road vehicle activity in European cities. By 2030, the European Union would like to see logistics systems, which are largely carbon dioxide-free, operating in urban centers. Though freight traffic in London is expected to grow by 20 percent by 2030, the industry has been slow to switch to alternatively fueled and electric freight vehicles; more radical strategies are needed to reduce the numbers and impacts of freight vehicles in cities. Working with some major parcel carriers in London, this project is examining the potential for increased operational collaboration among carriers to reduce urban traffic and energy demand while maintaining customer service levels. This project will also evaluate to what extent such relationships can develop naturally within a commercial setting or whether a third-party "Freight Traffic Controller" (FTC) would be necessary to ensure equitable distribution of demand across a city. Additionally, the project is investigating the role that portering could take in improving efficiency in last mile parcel logistics by increasing the amount of consignments moved on foot.
A visualization of a parcel carrier's round in London showing walking trajectories (black lines).
Source: University of Southampton.
Project Types
Research, Pilot.
Period of Performance
April 2016 - March 2019.
Project Site
London, United Kingdom.
Contact
Tom Cherrett
Professor
University of Southampton
Southampton, Hampshire, UK
T.J.Cherrett@soton.ac.uk
+44 2380594657
Topics Addressed
- Air quality/environment.
- Curbside delivery and parking.
- Energy consumption.
- Land use interaction.
- Last mile delivery.
- Logistics/distribution.
- Modeling.
- Mobility/Congestion.
Expected Outcomes
- A demonstration of how portering could reduce last mile vehicle impacts (curbside dwell time, driving time, and distance) through a switch to crowd-sourced couriers operating on foot or via bicycle.
- Using combined carrier manifest data, quantify and visualize the collective transport and energy impacts of current parcel carrier activities.
- Through a series of optimization algorithms, demonstrate the potential transport and energy benefits that could be realized if carriers were to share deliveries and collections more equitably among themselves and showcase a series of tools to help visualize those benefits.
- Provide an evaluation of the business models needed to enable carriers to collaborate in this way.
Stakeholder Involvement
The project partners are the University of Southampton, the University of Westminster, University College London, Lancaster University, TNT, Gnewt Cargo, and Transport for London. The project is funded by the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) grant EP/N02222X/1 (£1.4m), 1 April 2016 - 31 March 2019.
