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 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY On any given day, couriers and same day messengers deliver 2.2 million packages to businesses and households in Canada. From vital time-sensitive deliveries to hospitals to the delivery of flowers and gifts to family and friends, the Express Delivery Service (EDS) industry in Canada is helping to move the economy and strengthen the social fabric by delivering packages and parcels on time. The EDS industry in Canada employs 50,000 workers and contributes approximately $8 billion to the Canadian economy. The EDS industry, along with the developments in Communication and Information Technology has in fact made globalization possible. The EDS industry accounts for 2.8 million jobs globally and contributes $80 billion to the global GDP. Despite the important role played by EDS in economic growth and social cohesion, the industry continues to struggle for recognition for its contribution in enabling a globalized economy. Instead of being facilitated by planning authorities, the EDS industry faces censures and parking fines as it strives to deliver time-sensitive material to the consignees who generate value and wealth in Canada. With the economic downturn, couriers and same day messengers are facing additional challenges resulting from a decline in revenue and the increase in costs. Given the very thin operating margins, EDS industry is extremely sensitive to the variation in operating costs. In addition to the uncertainty in costs arising from changes in fuel cost, EDS industry incurs huge penalties running into millions of dollars in parking fines. Given that couriers and same day messengers are serving the same businesses in the urban core that are being served by public transit agencies, it is indeed surprising to see that infrastructure such as bus bays and streetcar stops are ubiquitous, whereas designated parking spots for couriers and same-day messengers are almost nonexistent. Furthermore, municipal governments have considered plans to restrict access to downtown to certain hours at night for couriers and same day messengers. These plans are motivated by the desire to improve traffic flow in downtowns. However, local governments are not considering the adverse impact of restricting access to time sensitive material on businesses located in the urban core. Given the nature of their business, in which each second counts, couriers and same day messengers spend no more than a few minutes at each delivery stop. Therefore, unlike large freight vehicles, couriers and same-day messengers cannot stay efficient if they were to search for parking spots or wait for their turn at loading docks. In the age of Blackberries and iPhones, the spectre of couriers waiting at loading docks would be similar to one waiting in a queue to send an e-mail at the post office. This report has therefore been prepared for policymakers, media, and the general public to: 1. document the scope and contribution of EDS to the Canadian economy, 2. ascertain potential impediments to efficient deliveries in urban cores, Page vi
Institute of Housing & Mobility Challenges facing the EDS industry in Canada's urban centres 3. identify any conflicts between a city’s desires to promote business growth with regulation, policy, facilitation, and enforcement, 4. review parking regulation, administration, enforcement, and penalties, and 5. provide recommendations for practical short-term and longer-term solutions to urban mobility challenges faced by EDS in Canada. Based on the review of responses received from various stakeholders involved in the EDS industry, namely couriers and same day messengers, municipal planners, property managers, as well as detailed spatial analysis of express deliveries in downtown Toronto, this report makes the following assertions: 1. A detailed survey of streets in downtown Toronto and a select list of commercial buildings revealed that there is an inadequate supply of necessary infrastructure required for the EDS industry so that it could deliver packages and parcels to consignees in an efficient manner without disrupting the traffic. 2. A review of academic and professional literature revealed that only a handful of publications have analyzed operations of couriers and same day messengers. The review of available literature suggests that there is no silver bullet for reducing congestion in the urban core. The review of policies adopted in other jurisdictions, including Europe, revealed limited success in reducing congestion. Furthermore, given the differences in built form and the transportation infrastructure, European strategies for the EDS industry are not likely to meet with success in North America. 3. A review of transport plans in large Canadian cities revealed that most transport plans did not contain either explicit or implicit mention of couriers and same day messengers. Most transport plans are focused on passenger transportation, with limited or no mention of freight transportation in general and the EDS industry in particular. 4. An extensive spatial analysis of deliveries made by the EDS industry to a segment of downtown Toronto revealed that 80,000 packages and parcels were delivered on a given day. 5. Interviews with property managers in downtown Toronto also revealed a lack of awareness and understanding of the EDS industry. It was also learnt that most property managers were not disposed to providing any dedicated space or service to couriers or same-day messengers as a value-added service to their tenants. Based on the analysis conducted, this study recommends the following: 1. The municipal transport authorities should improve their understanding and planning of freight transportation in general, and couriers and same day messenger services in particular, in order to be better prepared for regulating mixed modes of traffic in large urban centres in Canada. 2. The municipal transport agencies should include freight and logistics planning as part of their mandates, requiring transport planners to conduct studies focusing on freight and logistics as well as express deliveries. 3. Since no explicit infrastructure is provided for couriers and same-day messengers to park their vehicles, municipal transport planning authorities should consider undertaking studies to provide dedicated parking facilities, examples of which have been presented in this Page vii
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challenges facing express delivery services in canada's urban centres

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