Sustainable urban logistics: concepts against urban collapse

Pressure on urban logistics increases

Currently, more than 75 percent of all citizens in the European Union live in cities (Source: Statista). The tendency? Upwards. And this trend will further intensify the pressure on urban logistics, which has already been exacerbated by the boom in e-commerce and the increasing demands on air quality.

Because not only the flood of parcels is increasing, but also the quantity of general cargo. The retail sector replenishes its stocks more frequently, more flexibly and more fragmented which is, among other things, due to the click-and-collect form of procurement. Customers can pick up items ordered online in a stationary shop and thus save postage.

Local authorities are responding to the associated increase in delivery traffic and rising expectations of air quality with driving bans and access restrictions. That has already happened in about 500 cities within the EU.

"The pressure on the logistics sector is increasing and not only CEP service providers are affected, but also general cargo forwarders, who urgently need new concepts for city delivery," says Stefan Rummel, Managing Director of Messe München.

"Universities, research institutes and leading logistics service providers are already developing and testing concrete solutions to prevent the impending collapse of inner-city supply," Rummel continues. "Much of it was seen or discussed at transport logistic in Munich in June 2019." These solutions are as diverse as the framework conditions of the various cities themselves.

Sustainable delivery concepts for urban logistics

Among the 2,374 exhibitors at transport logistic—the world’s largest logistics trade fair—were also many award winners of the “Sustainable Urban Logistics" competition that the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety and the Federal Environment Agency jointly put out to tender in 2019.

Award winner DACHSER: emission-free delivery of general cargo

Also the logistics service provider DACHSER was present, who defined an emission-free delivery area for general cargo shipments in the city center of Stuttgart and integrated it permanently into its network.

This is how the “DACHSER Emission-Free Delivery” concept works:

• It uses lightweight and, in the future, medium-weight electric trucks with a total weight of up to 18 tons.
• These are combined with cargo bikes and micro-hubs.
• The target? To deliver palletized cargo completely emission-free.
• Trainees for professional drivers are employed as drivers for the electric trucks, for them to come into contact with electric mobility right from the start.

It is already clear today that the company will extend its delivery concept to other cities as well. "We have developed a toolbox with measures which our branches can use," explains Stefan Hohm, who is responsible for DACHSER’s Corporate Unit Corporate Solutions, Research & Development.

The City Distribution Toolbox for example provides tips

• on how to cooperate with communities or
• on what emission-free delivery concepts are available.

However, Hohm emphasizes: “There can be no single master plan for all European cities, because each municipality has its own topographical, political and legal framework.”

Award winner IML: sustainable delivery concept GeNaLog

Also among the winners of the federal competition "Sustainable Urban Logistics" was the Fraunhofer Institute for Material Flow and Logistics IML. Its suggestion: the use of electric vehicles shall also make night-time deliveries possible to extend the time window for the transport and delivery of good. Mornings, evenings and nights can also be used to relieve the load on the city centers as a whole.

The logistics concept GeNaLog (low-noise night logistics) is based on:

• electric trucks,
• noise-optimized vehicle floors and loading aids and
• specially trained drivers.

The companies REWE, DOEGO and TEDi are part of the project. A five-week practical test of the REWE Group in Cologne has already been very positive: "The test phase with the electric truck and the low-noise technologies went without any major difficulties. Local residents were enthusiastic about the low-noise technology and never complained about disturbances," Daniela Kirsch, research associate at Fraunhofer IML, reports.