It’s becoming a common sight to see delivery vehicles perched up against the curb, straddling the pavement or illegally parked, causing a string of frustrated drivers to be stuck behind. This is not the fault of individual drivers but a symptom of our antiquated infrastructure.
An electric cargo bike
Delivery trucks across the world averagely make around 100 stops a day which undoubtedly contributes to air pollution, congestion and delays.
This issue is is referred to as ‘last mile logistics’ and refers to the final part of a packages journey from the distributions warehouse to the customer’s location - and with the increasing growth of online shopping, especially same-day and next-day, we are seeing delivery becoming increasingly important and this issue has only been exacerbated during the COVID-19 outbreak.
Often these large delivery trucks leaves the warehouses full to the brim or half-empty and due to these rapid delivery times they can leaves up to three times a day to meet the required delivery slot.
It is becoming clear that a different system is needed and we are seeing innovative solutions being offered. Countries around the world are integrating electric cargo bikes into their infrastructure with companies such as Norway Post’s City Hubs in Oslo and Trondheim, KoMoDo in Berlin and Colibri in Montréal. These companies use electric bikes as ‘last mile’ transport from the distribution hubs they set up in the cities in the hope of reducing congestion, CO2 targets and improving road safety.
E-commerce is estimated to have grown by 20% in 2019 and with urban populations ever expanding, the burden and need for commercial freight is growing - which is already responsible for up to a quarter of global CO2 emissions and it is estimated to be as high as 40% of the transpiration emission of cities. Moreover this cost is more than just environmental with urban traffic congestion costing the EU 1% of its GDP at about £86.3bn a year due to product waste and projected productivity losses.
It is clear from this evidence that alongside local couriers and more local food deliveries, commercial freight needs to undergo significant changes. Colibri has installed its distribution ‘nest’ within an abandoned bus station where five shipping containers sit each related to a different company. Inside these containers is a large capacity metal box full of product which can be mounted to the electric cargo bikes.
Shifting to electric bikes is not going to be simple. The reliance upon old transport is heavily imbedded within our culture and mentality and it obviously has its advantages of being protected from the elements, immense speed and the luxuries we can have inside. However we see countries such as Norway, one that is much, much colder than ours, still determined to use them all year round.
Norway Post sites that their eco-friendly vehicles have led to an increase of 25% in worker productivity and a 40% decrease in their carbon footprint is Oslo. Within the city Norway Post have used a mixture of cargo bikes, electric vans and electric Paxster vehicles (A kind of increased capacity moped) instead of their traditional vehicles for almost six months to fantastic results.
Instead of making multiple deliveries back and forth, and multiple vehicles on the same delivery route, only a few need to enter the city to drop off the cargo at the distribution hub. The electric fleet takes care of the last mile.
Consumers have a role to play if we want our country to go clean and help decongest our streets of delivery vehicles, of any kind. Online shoppers should consider avoiding unnecessary rush-ordering packages or request next hour deliveries and allow companies the chance to schedule delves at more ecologically sensitive times. If we can be patient enough to allow up to 3 days for delivery, we can make sure the package can become consolidated into a truck that will only leave when full, rather than sending out a vehicle containing only a few items.