challenges facing express delivery services in canada's urban centres

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Institute of Housing & Mobility Challenges facing the EDS industry in Canada's urban centres Oftentimes large truck bans can also lead to a shift to smaller sized trucks by freight deliverers (Campbell, 1995). However, this shift would simply negate any effectiveness of a large truck ban and can be counterproductive in reducing congestion due to the increased number of smaller trucks on the road (Castro, Hyodo and Kuse, 2003). A consultation with industry leaders suggested that the EDS industry relies primarily on smaller vehicles for pickup and delivery to urban centres and large trucks constitute only a small percent of the fleet operated by EDS in Canada. Urban freight consolidation centres Urban consolidation centers (UCCs) are areas around the edge of a city that act as points where freight from various locations can be brought together for the purpose of consolidating those with similar destinations for fewer truck trips into the urban core. This strategy has been implemented in various cities with varying results. Some European cities have attempted to set up similar urban consolidation centres but have found that the associated costs outweigh the benefits (Dablanc, 2007). Some of these benefits are not easily quantifiable and are often not taken into account in analysis. Some governments are implementing policies, such as carbon taxation, that would make the benefits of UCCs, such as the reduction of environmental impacts, more attractive to companies. However this has not been the case for all the attempts to implement consolidation centres. Most examples that have been successful have been public sector ventures with initial incentives to encourage freight suppliers to use the services offered. One consolidation centre in Bristol, United Kingdom, was supplying various merchants in a retail strip and was effective and popular with suppliers. It initially was funded by the European Union but found that it was soon able to negotiate a fee from the users for the services offered and reduce its reliance on funding (Jack, 2006). There is also an example in Amsterdam that has proved to be very successful. Shippers in Amsterdam face two difficulties. The city’s core is difficult to navigate by trucks due to the presence of canals and narrow, pre-automobile era streets. The city has a restriction in place that all deliveries must be made between 7 and 11am. Due to the light rail transit (LRT) system not being affected by road congestion because light rail is segregated from the street network, the local government decided to test a pilot program using a UCC and freight cars on the LRT lines to deliver goods into the core. The dense LRT network and the presence of sidings on the LRT network allow freight cars to be unloaded close to their destination without blocking either automobiles or public transit. The program has proven to be a success and as part of its initial agreement will continue to operate without subsidies. Through this system it is estimated that approximately half the truck traffic into the city core could be eliminated (Barrow, 2007). Shortcomings of above-mentioned strategies Although successful, conditions comparable to Amsterdam do not exist in any major Canadian city. The light rail system in Canada is as much affected by congestion as other vehicles because for most part street cars operate on shared right of way. Furthermore, the passenger generated demand for light rail services is such that it leaves at present no existing capacity that could be Page 60
Institute of Housing & Mobility Challenges facing the EDS industry in Canada's urban centres used by EDS. And lastly, the expensive adjustments required to retrofit the light rail stops and street configuration for loading and off loading freight may make this option unviable. Unfortunately the above-mentioned strategies have not been proven to be fully effective wherever they are used. They are being adjusted and adapted in various cities to work to their full potential. It is often difficult to take a strategy that works in one location and transfer it elsewhere with the same results because there are many unique factors specific to each city. Strategies must be developed for specific cities with the cooperation of all involved parties. Consider the case of UCC in Canada. First, most EDS operators have their hubs located in urban areas from which they serve the urban markets. Some EDS operators have their hubs located within 2-km of the CBD. However, large scale location of hubs in downtowns is unlikely to result in improved efficiencies and lower congestion. This is because the in-bound traffic of larger trucks would then increase to downtowns. The large sized trucks are used to serve the hubs where parcels, letters , and packages are moved to smaller vehicles for delivery to final destination. While the urban consolidation centres worked well in some cities, they failed in others. This was either due to poor implementation or the general inappropriateness of this system in that city. One theme that is inconsistent in the literature is the importance of the cooperation of the private and public sectors in planning solutions to urban freight issues. This is vital in order to make decisions that will represent the best interest of all involved parties. Concluding comments from literature review The purpose of the literature review was to examine what strategies to improve urban logistics have been successful in Canada and other jurisdictions. The second purpose of the review was to determine if experiences from other jurisdictions could be repeated in Canada. With all the challenges facing freight carriers, they have always managed to make adjustments to deal with them. Communities are constantly trying to deal with congestion issues and environmental concerns, leaving the freight industry struggling to maintain profits in an increasingly competitive market (Taniguchi, 2002). Some strategies outlined in this literature review may prove to be effective in reducing congestion thereby making streets in urban cores easier to navigate. Unfortunately, most strategies observed in other jurisdictions attempt to reduce congestion by making it more difficult for freight vehicles to operate. Large truck bans often do not affect express deliveries; however they do force regular freight operators to make deliveries at times that are often not ideal. This leads to additional costs that must be passed down to the end consumers. The literature review suggests that most strategies do not consider the adverse impact of interventions on EDS. It is apparent that if strategies were devised in a more participatory environment, EDS companies would be involved in the planning and development of strategies to combat urban congestion. Most research in urban freight focuses on LTL freight, which mostly comprises large item deliveries to retail locations and shipments between businesses. Express and courier deliveries are very poorly represented in the literature. This area of research requires in-depth analysis to ensure that stopgap measures, such as banning all commercial vehicles from urban core in peak hours of Page 61
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