Transport efficiency of off-peak urban goods deliveries: A Stockholm pilot study

Abstract

It is increasingly recognized that even cities with severe congestion during peak hours have available road capacity during nights, evenings and early mornings. Policies that shift urban goods deliveries from peak hours to off-peak hours have the potential to increase the efficiency of freight distribution, as well as to reduce negative external impacts. Between 2014 and 2016, the City of Stockholm ran a pilot project allowing inner city goods deliveries with heavy trucks at night. This paper evaluates the transport efficiency impacts of the Stockholm off-peak pilot. An evaluation framework is defined where transport efficiency is studied in a number of dimensions, including driving efficiency, delivery reliability, energy efficiency and service efficiency. For each dimension, performance indicators are introduced and evaluated. Vehicle GPS probe data, fleet management data, and logistic information are used to assess the impacts. The results suggest that shifting deliveries from daytime peak hours to night-time achieved better transport efficiency in driving efficiency, delivery reliability and energy efficiency. Meanwhile, there were no clear efficiency gains from moving deliveries from mid-day hours. For cities with varying congestion during daytime like Stockholm, the results suggest that night-time deliveries mainly increase the scheduling flexibility of carriers and recipients through the introduction of additional off-peak hours. The conclusions provide input to planners, decision-makers and local authorities to design and implement effective policy initiatives.