Logistics Legacy – Olympics - Freight Transport Association

Logistics Legacy
Celebrating logistics achievement and
innovation during Summer 2012

2 Foreword
Foreword
The staging of the Olympic and Paralympic Games in London during the
summer of 2012 presented challenges of huge complexity and uncertainty for
everyone involved in supplying and servicing the city.
For over a year before the Opening Ceremony FTA and TfL worked closely
together to provide logistics operators with the information, support and
updates to allow them to adapt flexibly to the needs of London businesses
and residents during the Games period. This flexibility was enhanced by the
extensive and very practical support of the Traffic Commissioners.
The outstanding success of the London 2012 experience owes much to
the meticulous advanced planning and commitment of numerous individuals
across government and industry that ensured London’s supply chains
delivered the goods and services required. This document is a celebration
of that success and records the extent to which logistics operations can
be adapted to meet the most demanding circumstances, where there is
the will and co-operation between all the parties involved. In the event ,
the sporting achievements were breathtaking and the public acclamation
exceeded all expectations. In awarding medals for advance planning, real-time
responsiveness and sheer determination to succeed, logistics can proudly
take its place on the podium.
Our secret weapon was the close collaboration between London
government and London businesses – a feature repeatedly cited by the
interviewees in Logistics Legacy and one that we are determined be preserved
and developed as part of our legacy from the ‘Greatest Show on Earth’.
Theo de Pencier, Chief Executive, Freight Transport Association
Peter Hendy CBE, Commissioner for Transport, Transport for London

The context
3
The logistics challenge
Logistics Legacy is a record of
innovation and achievement by some
of the many, many organisations and
individuals that were responsible for
delivering to and servicing London
during Summer 2012.
The Olympic and Paralympic
Games between them offered 11
million tickets and many unticketed
events. The busiest day was
expected to draw crowds of over one
million visitors. Athletes, their support
teams and event staff numbered
in the hundreds of thousands. The
Olympic Route Network, which was
designed to allow athletes, trainers,
media and Games officials to travel to
events unimpeded and on time, was
some 109 miles long in London alone.
This huge influx not only boosted
demand for food, drink, waste
collection, hotel laundry services
and many other specialist services,
but also required them to be
delivered in the face of restrictions
and congestion that no London
companies had experienced before.
In short, the capital had never
seen an event like it.
The safe and efficient functioning
of London during Summer 2012
was the subject of a massive
communications and planning
exercise by Transport for London,
Freight Transport Association
and other trade bodies, that got
underway nearly 18 months before
the opening ceremony.
The challenge was not only to
supply the venues and other Games
facilities themselves, a responsibility
convincingly executed by UPS, but
to keep London functioning as a
world business centre and home
to a population of 10 million people
during the staging of the two biggest
sporting events on earth.
By near universal consensus,
the supply chains that fed, watered,
serviced and supported London,
performed superbly. Pubs did not
run out of beer, cafes did not stop
serving, supermarket shelves
were not empty, and newspapers
appeared on news stands. This
document records and pays tribute
to the foresight, ingenuity and sheer
hard work of logistics managers, fleet
directors and their teams in planning
around anticipated delays and route
closures, the diversions, the security
checks, the surges in demand and
the short-notice changes in delivery
dates… and times… and places…
and quantities.
Their achievement is as much
a national success story as the
outstanding sporting achievements
that their efforts made possible and
allowed us all to enjoy.
As a trade association, it is FTA’s
job to ensure that as many as
possible of the benefits and advances
that were secured during the Games
period are retained as a legacy.
Each contributor on the following
pages records the experiences and
learnings of businesses in different
sectors and supply chains and,
importantly, what benefits they
would like to retain in the future.

4 Catering
Despite rescheduling its London services to night-time and carrying
more in half the time, Bidvest achieved 4,999 out of 5,000 deliveries
during the Olympics. This is how…
Bidvest Logistics distributes
everything the capital’s restaurants
need apart from furniture: frozen,
ambient and chilled food travels
with plastic coffee cups and staff
uniforms in specialist composite
vehicles. It services 400 outlets
in London from its Banbury
(Oxfordshire) and Hoddesdon
(Hertfordshire) depots, which
include leading London hotels and
restaurant chains.
The company’s Olympic planning
started 18 months before the event.
“We agreed with our customers
that we would plan for the highest
lift in volumes and the highest
levels of day-time congestion,” says
David Phillips, distribution planning
controller. “It was clear that we were
expected to take the lead in terms
of researching this and informing
our customers because there was
only a limited level of knowledge
or understanding of the potential
implications of the Olympics.”
Given the expectation of packed
daytime roads and increased
demand for goods, Bidvest decided
to move its customers to night-time
deliveries. Over 600 drops were
shifted from a 6am to 6pm schedule
to being delivered between midnight
and 6am – half the normal shift
length – between 16 July and
8 September.
“No one could predict the level of
night-time congestion,” says Mark
Pearce, senior operations manager.
“This meant we prioritised service
levels not efficiency. We would like
to continue night-time deliveries in
future but with the opportunity to
optimise them.” Bidvest is currently
talking to customers about the
options for delivery at night on a
more permanent basis.
The night-time roads were so
quiet the routes grew from four
deliveries to seven. Journeys were
faster and the number of parking
fines plummeted by 30%, saving
the company money. The company
adopted the night-time delivery
guidelines issued by Transport for
London to minimise disruption
and runs extremely quiet 26-tonne
vehicles, with low-noise Frigoblock
units; the engines are shut down
completely at drop-points and they
have noise-suppressant tyres.
Bidvest also prepared a very
detailed and practical guide to
appropriate parking places, with
a seasoned driver scoping every
location in advance.
The benefits of our approach
● Easier, more compliant parking and lower fines
● Reduces daytime congestion
● Allows vehicles to be double-shifted which reduces the size of the fleet
● Avoids congestion charge
● Customers have stock ready at the start of business
To keep the torch burning, we need:
● Greater understanding of the benefits from clients, residents and councils
● More collaborative approach to enforcement; drivers must be given
appropriate places to park

Drinks distribution
5
Coca-Cola Enterprises found that
even without optimised routeing,
night-time deliveries were
quicker, easier and quiet
Jamie Roach / Shutterstock.com
The benefits of our approach
● Lower fuel usage, therefore lower emissions
● Shorter, faster delivery shifts
● Huge opportunities for further optimisation
To keep the torch burning, we need:
● A mutual understanding and co-operation between enforcement agencies,
councils and logistics operators
● Education for residents and customers about the benefits of night-time
deliveries
● A working party to foster the sense of collaboration achieved between all
parties during the Games
The Coca-Cola logistics team
identified hot-spot areas ahead of
the London 2012 Olympic Games,
of which it was an official partner.
It shifted non-London routes to
other depots to free up capacity and
persuaded more than 100 customers
to move to night-time deliveries.
Steve Willis, transport manager
for North London operations, oversaw
services to Greenwich, Bermondsey,
Hammersmith, Stratford, the City
and the West End. “We deliver a wide
range of soft drinks in both bottle and
concentrates to outlets throughout
the capital. Night-time deliveries
saved us fuel because there was
less traffic and our drivers’ hours
fell in some cases from 10 hours to
eight,” he says, despite the deliveries
not lending themselves to route
optimisation. “Some customers took
much larger orders before the Games
so the routes were less dense.
“We used a good working practice
for the Games, but we would use
a more efficient model were we
to move to night-time deliveries
normally,” he says.
The company adhered strictly
to the various codes of conduct for
night-time deliveries. “We worked
with the Noise Abatement Society
and they monitored our deliveries
for one night. We didn’t receive any
complaints except one, and in that
instance it was emergency response
vehicles causing the noise and not
our truck,” he says.
Coca Cola’s logistics team is now
engaging with customers at a high
level to see how many would consider
moving to night-time deliveries. “We
believe customers’ experiences and
attitudes are positive but we are
surveying this at the moment,” says
Willis. “We believe removing freight
from the roads at peak-times can
only benefit everyone.”
Willis believes that the strongest
legacy should be the sense of
collaboration between logistics
operators, customers, councils and
enforcement agencies which kept
London moving during its biggest
challenge for years. “Everyone
involved was genuinely helpful.
Everyone pulled together and we
need to remember that and ask: What
is our common goal? How can we
work together to achieve my targets
and your targets? The only way we
will achieve a real legacy from the
London 2012 Olympic Games is if we
have a working party to foster that
co-operation,” he says.

6
Laundry service
Clean Linen Services shifted its deliveries both forwards and back
in order to avoid peak Olympic traffic – and its smoother operation
saved on fuel, fines and Congestion Charges
Clean Linen Services launders
linen, tablecloths and uniforms
for over 500 clients including
restaurants and hotels in London,
delivering clean linen and collecting
the soiled between 5am and
10.30pm each day. During the
Olympics the company started early
morning deliveries three hours earlier
and late afternoon services started
three hours later in the evening.
“We already double-shift our
vehicles and our optimisation is
good,” says Keith Abbott, group
transport manager. “Soiled linen is
more voluminous than clean folded
linen so our vehicles can be carrying
25% more volume on the way back,
particularly during the summer.”
Abbott says the company’s
foray into night-time deliveries was
beneficial; although stop-start urban
deliveries do not lend themselves to
fuel economy, the vehicles did use
less fuel because there was less
traffic. They also benefitted from
easier parking.
Abbott says: “The locations we
have to stop at do not usually allow
for parking. During the night, wardens
were not patrolling but we still
received tickets from camera-based
enforcement. The fact is, though, we
need more kerb-space in London. We
need to be given places where we
can safely and legally park.”
He believes this major issue
interrupts the smooth flow of freight
to the capital. It is, however, a problem
mitigated by night-time operation.
“And there were other benefits,”
says Abbott. “The vehicles returned
The benefits of our approach
● Removed peak-time traffic,
thereby avoiding the Congestion
Charge
● Lower fuel bills
● Smoother operation
● Easier, safer parking
To keep the torch burning,
we need:
● More safe parking for HGVs in
London
● A clear sense of customer needs
and attitudes
● A review of evening delivery
restrictions
● A review of Red Route Operations
to base earlier so the operation
ran more smoothly. We could also
schedule some of our vehicles so
they went into London after the
Congestion Charge limit in the
evening and did their last drops
outside the zone in the morning, thus
avoiding the charge both ways.”
Abbott has continued operating
in the early mornings and evenings
for most clients. “Overall, this is
making our business more efficient,
and removing traffic from peak-time
London roads.”

Retail
7
M&S says London 2012 stresstested
the entire supply chain
and proved its flexibility
Radu Razvan / Shutterstock.com
The benefits of our approach
● Effective stress-test of the whole supply chain
● Improved quiet delivery practices
● Fantastic levels of co-operation across companies and agencies
To keep the torch burning, we need:
● Greater support for delivery at night and non-peak times, and a resolution
of the conflict between minimising day-time congestion and night-time
restrictions
Marks and Spencer has a unique
position, in that it requires a robust
supply chain for the delivery of
fresh quality food, but its high street
locations and wide range of goods
differentiate it and its infrastructure
from the supermarkets. The
emphasis on freshness of food
means the shortest possible time
between production and supply.
M&S has 72 stores within
London, including high street stores,
supercentres, Simply Food outlets
and franchised stores within rail and
service stations. These are serviced
by four distribution centres. Usually
all stores receive 5am-7am deliveries
for immediate shelving of goods.
Many of the suggested changes
to accommodate the Olympic
restrictions, such as re-routeing or
re-sizing vehicles, were not possible,
so instead Marks and Spencer pulled
its entire supply chain schedule back
by four hours.
All goods had to be delivered
to the DCs by 7pm, instead of the
usual 11pm cut-off. This was most
challenging in the case of fresh food,
and required the engagement of 123
separate suppliers and the extensive
network of transport companies
which supports M&S Logistics.
In some cases M&S decreased the
shelf-life on some products, such as
sandwiches, as a result.
“We had to work closely with
suppliers but also the primary
haulage providers who deliver these
goods into our DCs,” says Michael
Watkins, head of operations for food
logistics and general merchandise
transport. “Retail staff, warehouse
staff and drivers had to be moved
onto nights.”
The change was managed in a
staggered fashion, with the primary
haulage network changing pattern
three weeks before the Olympic
Route Network went live, the
warehouses two weeks before and
finally the delivery schedule to shops
changing one week before. Nine
weeks later it was similarly phased
back, with first shops and then the
DCs and hauliers reverting to their
former schedules.
“We achieved a 97% performance
rate with no impact on availability
at any of our London stores,” says
Watkins. “We learned a lot about the
flexibility of the supply chain. We
could also share our experience of
quiet deliveries as part of the
working group to write the quiet
delivery protocols.”

8
Waste collection
During the games, Viridor had moved almost half its London
customers to night-time waste collections
The benefits of our approach
● Cuts day-time congestion, emissions and vehicle numbers
● Gives easier access to sites
● Has promoted innovation, new skills and shared expertise
To keep the torch burning, we need:
● Continued contact, dialogue and sharing of best practice between groups
● Flexibility and mutual understanding with councils
Viridor Waste specialises in the
collection of commercial waste for
recycling or reuse, servicing shops,
hotels and offices throughout the
capital. Prior to London 2012, 80% of
deliveries were during the day.
Having discussed the implications
of the Olympics with customers
extensively, Viridor decided to
experiment with night-time waste
collections, which are particularly
challenging from the perspective
of noise. It worked with London
councils, the Traffic Commissioners’
Office and the Noise Abatement
Society to develop new skills.
“We put around 600 customers
on a midnight to 6am shift,” says
Andy Cordery, regional manager,
collection and fleet. “We learned to
use quieter vehicles, moving from 32
to 18 or 26-tonners, to use the lifts
differently, to park quietly and follow
best practice. Working with hotels
meant quiet was essential but there
was only ever one complaint, which,
as it turned out, wasn’t directed at
our vehicles.”
Two to three hundred customers
have chosen to stay on night-time
collection as it offers them benefits
too. “We have easier access at night,”
says Cordery. “Routes are quicker, we
have downsized the fleet because we
can double-shift the vehicles, we get
fewer parking tickets and the smaller
vehicles have lower emissions.”
The efficiencies are apparent now
the company has had a chance to
optimise routeing and dispense with
the substantial back-up resource it
had available during the Games.
Cordery thinks the true legacy
of London 2012 was the sharing of
expertise. “It brought groups together,
including the Traffic Commissioners’
Office which offered essential advice.
My managers now have contacts at
TfL, the Noise Abatement Society and
at the FTA. They demonstrated their
expertise in the presentations and
bulletins which informed us during
the Games and we should continue
to build on that.”

Construction
9
FM Conway has fitted its tipper
vehicles with noise-suppressant
measures for quieter transport
CHEN WS / Shutterstock.com
The benefits of our approach
● It proves even construction vehicles can run quietly
● Night-time road repairs mean less daytime congestion
To keep the torch burning, we need:
● A review of the London Lorry Control Scheme to allow night-time access to
vehicles delivering to or collecting within London
● Recognition of operators who have invested and innovated for quiet
running when applying restrictions
Highway maintenance group FM
Conway routinely repairs London’s
roads at night, and was tasked with
lifting 34 traffic islands to facilitate
the cycle road race. These islands
through Hammersmith, Fulham,
Kensington, Chelsea and Richmond
had to be lifted each morning of the
two-day race and then re-laid for
night-time traffic control.
The six specialist vehicles were
typical of FM Conway’s night-friendly
tippers, with rubber linings in the
cargo bay for quiet loading and
unloading, rubber seals on tail-lifts to
stop banging and hydraulic clamps
which compress the body to stop
rattling when the vehicle moves. The
vehicles are also fitted with white
noise reversing alarms.
Its quiet delivery measures
recently won it the Noise Abatement
Society’s Enterprise in Quiet
Transport Award.
While much of FM Conway’s
normal highway maintenance work
was suspended during the Games,
its fleet was tasked with various jobs
specifically for the Olympics. It moved
10,000 tonnes of sand and 3,000
metal barriers to guard the perimeters
of various venues, such as Horse
Guards Parade and Wimbledon. It was
also one of five companies which
provided emergency crews to deal
with any problems on the Olympic
Route Network.
“We were subject to the same
restrictions as other road users at
all times,” says plant director Steven
Hart. “Construction work is inherently
noisy but many roads need to be
fixed at night to mitigate traffic holdups.
So we have fitted our fleet to be
as minimally disruptive as possible.”
Hart hopes that the work FM
Conway has done will inspire TfL and
London borough councils to review
the London Lorry Control Scheme.
“Currently we often have to do three
times the necessary distance to
collect asphalt because we cannot
drive through central London,” he
says. “This creates more pollution
and makes public road repairs more
expensive. Recognition should be
given to the innovations in quiet
running we have achieved.”

10
Parcels delivery
UPS found alternative modes, such as walking and cycling, didn’t
necessarily cost more if the drop density was right
On a typical day in the capital,
UPS would send 160 drivers out on
100-drop routes. They carry parcels
up to 70kg. During the Olympics, of
which it was an official partner, it
employed slightly larger vehicles,
and sent them out to approximately
20 carefully arranged staging posts
around the city, from which walkers
and cyclists could deliver
the packages.
UPS did an intensive data-analysis
and damage-mitigation exercise
long before the Games, but like
many operators, it was hampered
for months by a lack of cohesive
information. “We gathered as much
data as possible, but there had never
been anything on the scale of London
2012,” says Rob Walsh, UPS business
continuity director for London 2012.
It decided to anticipate high levels
of congestion by using vehicles as
mobile consolidation centres, with
appropriate staging points agreed
with councils and National Car Parks,
to allow walkers to cover the city in
one-mile-radius sections. Cyclists
were also used, who could go further
afield. Where necessary, walkers
were taken by bus to outlying
districts or used the Tube network.
Each staging area would hold
parcels for 200-300 drops making
the exercise efficient, despite using
pedestrians. “It can be cost-effective
if you get the density right,” says
Walsh. “And it didn’t take longer
because we had 120 walkers,
and they were not impeded by
congestion.”
Bikes and walkers not only moved
more easily through traffic but
were environmentally friendly; the
fleet could be downsized, used less
fuel and needed less preventative
maintenance.
UPS, which recruited amongst
friends, families and local students, is
now inviting many of its walkers back
to help with the Christmas surge.
UPS says the newfound understanding
between agencies, operators
and customers was invaluable.
The benefits of our approach
● Environmentally friendly; our walkers/bikes did not cause congestion or
get snarled up by it
● Efficient with the right density
● Lower vehicle use and costs
● Our contacts with councils and TfL have multiplied
To keep the torch burning, we need:
● A continuation of the dialogue between councils and operators; to develop
our mutual understanding and to have flexibility from all sides

Parcels delivery
11
DHL Express used joggers, bikes
and motorcycles to supplement
its normal deliveries
DHL Express delivers thousands of
parcels, packages, and documents
across London every day,
distributing them from one of DHL’s
ten service centres located near or
within the M25. Four of these are
within central London.
“We made a promise that normal
service would not be compromised
by the Games, a vow which drove
all our mitigation activities,” says
Martin Cousins, Olympics Response
Manager for DHL Express UK &
Ireland. “It required intensive
planning for worst-case scenarios as
we had no way of quantifying the real
impact of the Games beforehand.”
“We spent a long time talking with
our customers about the implications
for their deliveries and encouraging
them to make contingency plans,”
he says. “We also had to field a lot
of international enquiries about the
impact of the Games on time-critical
freight, such as medical samples.”
DHL’s couriers also helped customers
to plan ahead for the Games.
DHL Express used vehicles on
their normal routes alongside driver
buddies or jogging couriers, and used
pushbikes or motorbikes depending
upon the local access and parking
restrictions. DHL has maintained
The benefits of our approach
● Closer working relationships with our customers
● A flexible approach to deliveries that could form a template for other major
city centre events
● Better relationships and contacts with Transport for London
● Working with us helped develop London agencies’ understanding of
logistics
To keep the torch burning, we need:
● To build on the understanding that
logistics is vital to London and must be
accommodated
● Greater understanding of logistics
by London boroughs and
public authorities
● To encourage adoption of new
approaches to freight management
that were used during the Games
such as night-time deliveries, greater
flexibility for traffic enforcement
notices, etc.
its relationship with the couriers it
used and the system may become a
template for future city-based events
or periods of high demand.
“There was huge goodwill from
customers who loaned us parking
bays, secure areas etc, from which
we could distribute parcels in the
local area,” says Tony Amos, Lambeth
service centre manager.

12
Interview
Transport for London
Ian Wainwright says the Games were a time for
challenging assumptions and forging a new
partnership between the capital and those who
deliver its goods…
“This is a time for taking the worst
possible problems involved in
delivering freight, and seeing how we
solve them.” So says Ian Wainwright,
freight programme manager
at Transport for London (TfL).
Wainwright oversaw TfL’s 18-month
mission to ensure that goods and
services continued to be delivered to
London throughout the two months
dominated by London 2012 – and he
says industry and local government
must now work together to continue
the innovation, problem-solving and
best practice the Games engendered.
“We need to build what we learned
back into real life,” says Wainwright.
And we learned plenty, according
to TfL. It inherited responsibility for
ensuring freight continuity during
the Games in early 2011, later than
ideal, and wasted no time in pulling
operators, trade associations, and
business and special interest groups
into a high-level forum. “We couldn’t
just talk to operators because they
needed to be able to stand up to
their customers and explain what
could and couldn’t happen,” says
Wainwright. “And they needed
backing from all of us to do that.”
The four Rs – reduce, re-time,
re-route or revise mode – already a
familiar message from passenger
transport, was now aimed at freight.
Stock-piling inventory, pre-ordering,
reworking schedules, changing
delivery locations, delivering out
of hours or switching mode were
all possible solutions. TfL needed
to demonstrate their practicality –
which it did with 25 case studies
– and encourage operators and
customers to work together to find
the right solution case by case.
As a result 15-20% of the
commercial vehicles which work
within central London between
6am and 6pm on a typical day
disappeared from the daytime
streets. Ten per cent of these moved
to night-time delivery.
“If we could achieve a proportion
of this reduction in the 265,000
freight vehicles daily travelling across
the capital in the future that would be
great,” says Wainwright.
However, there are challenges
to be overcome. The 33 borough
councils in London, responsible for all
but 5% of the road network, prioritise
the needs of residents and do not
necessarily understand the logistics
solutions which can help bridge
the gap between residential and
commercial necessities.
“The Games taught us that we
need a better conversation with
one another,” says Wainwright. “We
engaged the industry with our daily
bulletins about the road network
and we received a huge amount
of feedback. The message that
freight is important to all of us was
emphasised.”
It is essential that everyone
involved continues to build on this
sense of relationship and progress,
with patience and determination,
he feels. “This is not about what
Transport for London will do now, or
what FTA will do now, or what freight
operators will do now,” he says. “This
is about what we will do together.”

Interview 13
In practice there were many
operational breakthroughs during
the Games and the industry needs
to stop and assess those. TfL worked
with the sector to produce its code
of practice for out of hours deliveries
based on work for the Quiet Delivery
Demonstration Scheme. Operators
investigated the restrictions around
customers’ premises and associated
routeing and parking, often in great
detail. TfL worked with councils to
review enforcement and to provide
loading bays along the Olympic Route
Network where practical, and to
encourage pragmatic enforcement of
the London Lorry Control Scheme.
“The demonstration that things
could be different during the
Olympics was powerful,” says
Wainwright. “Now we need to see
where the costs and the benefits
came from. And we need to challenge
assumptions and preconceptions
“We need to challenge the presumption
that night-time deliveries will be noisy”
going forwards. We need to challenge
the presumption that night-time
deliveries will be noisy.”
Operators will also need to look at
long-term investment in appropriate
kit, an issue not raised for the
duration of the Games.
During the Games problems
were dealt with individually and
approached with flexibility. “We need
to look at the problems we know still
exist and deal with them one at a
time,” say Wainwright. “The London
Lorry Control Scheme does not stop
deliveries. It is planning restrictions
or a lack of understanding, or people
not seeing the benefits and savings,
or noise restrictions… these are
what stop deliveries. We need to
break these issues down, look at the
individual problems and perceptions
and then find solutions to each.”
Some of these perceptions belong
to customers – Wainwright cites the
case of one London restaurant which
always over-ordered for peace of
mind but discovered new efficiencies
when it took delivery less often
during the Games.
“Conscious procurement and
pre-ordering can reduce the impact
of deliveries. The consolidation centre
for Regent Street stores is successful
because holding stock on Regent
Street is too expensive,” he says.
Issues around parking
and kerbside availability is
also something TfL is keen to
resolve through discussion and
demonstration, although it has little
direct control.
Wainwright is also determined to
maintain the dialogue with industry,
and TfL is still sending out its popular
weekly bulletin to operators.
“The future is not about TfL
standing up [for the needs of the
freight industry], it’s about TfL and
everyone else standing up together,”
he says. After all, London 2012
showed us it could happen.

14
The legacy
Opportunities abound
Collaboration, understanding and flexibility is
needed from all sides to ensure London delivers…
According to Transport for
London, 265,000 freight vehicles
visit the capital daily, delivering
goods and performing essential
services. These goods and services
underpin London’s £323bn or 21.5%
contribution to UK GDP. Without those
vehicles packages would not be
delivered, documents and medical
samples would expire unseen, shop
shelves would empty, streets would
accumulate waste.
The easily overlooked gift of
London 2012 is the window it opened
for agencies of all kinds – central and
local government, businesses, freight
operators and enforcement agencies
– to look afresh at one another’s role.
On all sides there was understanding,
sometimes for the first time, of
what these other contributors to
London’s success actually do – an
understanding that was driven from
a common sense of purpose.
There is an opportunity now for
the businesses, local authorities and
transport companies to build on this
with a new common purpose: to keep
London delivering, economically,
socially and environmentally.
What does such collaboration
look like? The ground work is already
there. Operators – major players in
London’s economy – have told us
they have countless contacts now
within Transport for London (TfL),
local councils, trade organisations
such as FTA and other organisations
where they can ask for help,
guidance and support. This needs to
be a multi-way process with councils
and TfL also asking the freight
industry for ideas to achieve their
goals.
London 2012 has challenged
many assumptions, such as that
night-time deliveries would disturb
residents. The case studies in
“The case studies
show that most
transport can be
done quietly”
Logistics Legacy or held by TfL
demonstrate that even waste
collections or construction transport
– the noisiest of freight movements
– can be done quietly and without
disrupting residents. In many cases
chatting pedestrians, buses or
emergency vehicles were shown to
make more noise during the night
than the trucks delivering goods.
Given the high levels of daytime
congestion in London and the
continuing need to improve air
quality, it makes social, political
and economic sense to encourage
as many night-time deliveries as
possible.
TfL has stated that it would
welcome the re-timing of deliveries
to cut the number of commercial
vehicles in the city during the day.
Parking and access is easier at night.
Journeys are quicker and therefore
use less fuel and cause less pollution.
London 2012 has shown that it can
be done, without compromising
residents’ priorities. All that remains
now is for all parties to work together
to identify those operations which
are suited to such a shift.
This is also an opportunity
to examine access and parking
arrangements for large vehicles.

The legacy 15
Currently many operators receive
thousands of pounds worth of fines
they can do little to avoid. Goods
vehicles are necessary to support
local businesses in a commercially
and environmentally efficient
manner – and they must have
somewhere practical, safe and legal
to stop. This is the time to examine
expectations on both sides; for
operators and councils to examine
their respective goals and needs in
order to find a workable solution.
Operators will need to think about
investment in modern, quiet vehicles
and equipment. They will also need
to take the opportunity to optimise
these journeys in a way that could
not be done during the Olympics,
largely because excess resource was
allocated as a contingency.
Councils also need to look at
planning and noise restrictions and
see whether the benefits of relaxing
or redrawing these to facilitate
quiet night-time delivery would not
outweigh the possible disruption
to residents. There is an excellent
opportunity now for councillors to
learn more about quiet delivery
schemes, freight operations, the
vehicles and the many social benefits
of out-of-hours running.
What we’ve learned
● Freight is the lifeblood of the city and its circulation should be prioritised
● Night-time deliveries can be made quieter and minimally disruptive, even
in residential areas or by hotels
● Parking and access arrangements need to be reviewed to allow vehicles
big enough to deliver commercial and environmental efficiency
● The London Lorry Control Scheme needs to be reviewed to facilitate
deliveries within London and reduce wasted running
● That understanding, constructive dialogue and a sense of common
purpose can overcome all obstacles
David Burrows / Shutterstock.com

The Quiet Delivery Consortium
Many businesses met the logistical demands of London 2012 by delivering at night. Such deliveries are simple in concept
but fraught with legal and operational difficulties. However, they offer potential savings in emissions, peak-time journeys
and vehicle operating costs, and longer shelf-life for fresh produce when deliveries are completed before opening hours.
The challenge is: can they be conducted without disturbing residents living close to the delivery site?
The Quiet Delivery Consortium is a collaboration between FTA, the Noise Abatement Society and two consultancies, TRL
and TTR, that helps businesses and local authorities to make quiet, night-time deliveries a reality. The consortium offers
the range of skills and experience needed to agree changes in site restrictions and operational procedures and to secure
the co-operation of local authority and community interests. Trial deliveries are monitored to ensure the expectations of
all parties are met and the business and community benefits are realised. The consortium has implemented more than a
dozen successful trials.
To investigate how night-time deliveries can be made to work at a given location, please contact:
Tracy Seager at FTA on 01892 552285.
Freight Transport Assocition Limited
Hermes House, St John’s Road,
Tunbridge Wells, Kent, TN4 9UZ
Telephone: 01892 526171
Fax: 01892 534989
Website: www.fta.co.uk
Registered in England Number 391957
©FTA 12.12/LC
Produced and designed by White Rose Media Ltd
Pictures courtesy: Transport for London and Shutterstock
Main front cover image: Maxisport / Shutterstock.com