Tuesday, December 13, 2022

What Is The 'Last-Mile' Delivery Strategy?

 Well....the German political folks have picked up this idea that in major urban areas....you ought to cut off the big delivery trucks that bring goods to the stores in the shopping districts.  

So there would be this transit area where the big delivery truck arrives (maybe a block....maybe five or six blocks), and their cargo would move to a three-wheel bike delivery vehicle (sometimes pedaled....sometimes battery-run), and they would bring the cargo to the shop.

Positives and negatives?

First, the city leadership has to cough up a transit 'center' and five parking spots for large delivery trucks....won't cut it.  

Second, you have to make a major advertising effort to explain this to various logistical companies....that there is one route into the noted area, and one route out.

Third, someone has to fulfill the final-mile mini-vehicle delivery system....daily, without any interruption, and be cost-friendly.  Stores paying more for this service?  Yes, and it'll eventually reach a point where a small shop sees no reason to be in the mid-town area.

Fourth, saving on the climate, or for that matter....anything?  On paper, there is some belief that keeping the bigger diesel vehicles out of the mid-town areas....makes for cleaner air.  However, if you follow the evolution going on....most deliveries will be made by battery-powered vehicles within a dozen years.  By 2040....just about all delivery vehicles will be battery-powered....so this last-mile strategy probably has minimal value.  

I'm not saying its a failure, but by the time you find a large open area to fit the delivery truck scheme.....near the downtown area....then figure the cost and hassle burden....it's just not worth the 'pain' involved.  

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