Abstract
An Urban Consolidation Centre (UCC) can decrease the number of freight vehicles and their mileage in urban areas. In practice, however, UCCs often rely on subsidies and seldom make it past their starting period. Understanding about how UCCs affect urban freight transport is mostly based on mathematical models and on the opinions of stakeholders who do not actually use a UCC. The purpose of this paper is to study empirically how the introduction of a UCC influences the logistics processes, costs, and service levels of suppliers. In a multiple case study, we collect data about the distribution networks of nine suppliers (including their receivers, carriers, and the UCC). Analyses of these data show that introducing a UCC affects the logistics processes of many actors in a distribution network, and these effects differ strongly depending on how the distribution network was structured initially. Generally, a UCC does not result in lower logistics costs for suppliers, at least not in the short-term, and often requires new service level agreements with receivers. We hope our study provides stakeholders with a balanced view on the role UCCs can play in making urban freight transport more sustainable.
Highlights
Urban freight transport plays an important role in the commercial and residential functions of a city
We developed a template, which we filled for each supplier with information about their logistics processes, costs, service levels and the impact of the Urban Consolidation Centre (UCC) thereon
A key finding from our study is that the introduction of a UCC does not have a singular effect on the logistics processes, costs, and service levels of suppliers
Summary
Urban freight transport plays an important role in the commercial and residential functions of a city. With sustainability issues high on the agenda, local authorities, companies, and scholars have initiated and investigated various policies and solutions to restructure urban freight flows in an attempt to address these problems (Dablanc, 2007; Holguín-Veras et al, 2020a; Taniguchi and Van Der Heijden, 2000). One often applied and studied initiative intended to make urban freight transport more sustainable is an Urban Consolidation Centre (UCC). Mathematical modeling studies suggest that UCCs can have benefits such as reducing route length, pollution and costs (Escuín et al, 2012; Estrada et al, 2018; Simoni et al, 2018). These benefits are not confirmed by empirical research. Most empirical studies far had to rely on the opinions of actors, stakeholders, branch organi zations, or industry experts with little or no first-hand experience of using a UCC themselves (Holguín-Veras et al, 2020a; Van Duin et al, 2018)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
