trailer world issue Two 2010

Logistics concepts that avoid traffic should eliminate congestion in the mega cities.

Dossier Issue Two 2010 17 Every year, 31.5 million tonnes of goods of all different kinds are transported in Paris to keep the city‘s two million inhabit- ants and more than 100,000 shops, restaurants and tradesmen‘s workshops well stocked, or to dispatch products made here to custom- ers at home and abroad. Of this total amount, around 28 million tonnes are transported by delivery vans and trucks, making 300,000 de- liveries every day. This has always been a challenge in view of the heavy volume of traffic together with the often narrow and overloaded roads. A new dimension was introduced to the problem ten years ago when the city authorities introduced measures to exacerbate the situation for in- dividual car traffic while pushing the use of local public transport, in the interest of the environment and clean air.All major through roads were given separate corridors for buses, taxis and bicycles. This narrowed the remain- ing road surface and caused even more con- gestion. The approx. 10,000 delivery parking spaces on the roadside, that vehicles can only use for a maximum of 30 minutes, are simply inadequate. And so the morning rush hour is still characterised by delivery trucks parked at random, blocking small streets or hindering traffic on the boulevards. Shopping streets are being increasingly pedestrianised. Delivery vehicles and vans account for 20% of all vehicles on the streets of Paris. The quantity of goods being deliv- ered is expected to increase by 1.5% per year through to 2025, so that delivery traffic will be growing twice as quickly as passenger transport. City fosters innovation In order to con- trol developments, the city authorities have defined a “time window” for deliveries and reserved the heaviest periods in the morning or evening for electric vehicles, gas-driven trucks or vehicles with Euro-5 exhaust sys- tems or better. Other vehicles are only allowed to use the night hours between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. To make it easier to deliver supplies in the city while moving away from the conven- tional big vehicles, the city authorities have also supported numerous innovations. For example, the city authorities, the SNCF rail- way company and the port of Paris have of- fered transport companies the possibility of using spaces or buildings on the outskirts of the city centre where trucks can deliver pal- lets of packages that are then transferred onto smaller delivery vehicles that can move about more quickly in the city itself. As property or space of this kind is rare and land extremely expensive in Paris, there are plans to create so-called city hubs as mul- ti-storey cross-docking platforms, located around the city centre. These are to be erect- ed and operated jointly by several transport companies. The goods are brought into the hubs at night by truck from the warehouses in the hinterland and transferred to small de- livery vehicles, preferably with electric drive, for delivery in the city centre. Coffee pads delivered by electric vehicle This is already happening on a small scale with the company Colizen, founded twelve months ago. For example, Colizen makes deliveries for Nestlé customers who have ordered Future IV The mega cities of this world worry about the impact that increasing traffic volumes have on their quality of life. Keeping the retail trade well stocked is also a daily challenge. trailer world presents exem- plary city logistics concepts from the French capital. Dealing with traffic congestion

trailer world issue Two 2010

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