by Walther Ploos van Amstel
Norwegian Posten Norge has entered into an agreement with Buddy Mobility to develop the world’s first self-driving mail and parcel robot. In selected cities, the new robot could replace the mailbox as we know it today. The customers will be notified that mail or parcels are on their way, and they can decide whether to meet …
The use of delivery management systems (DMS) for construction logistics in London has grown considerably in recent years, and are now viewed as essential tools to address an increasingly complex and regulated construction environment. The emergence of DMS, therefore, is closely linked with this evolving compliance landscape. Research by Transport for London provided valuable insights …
DHL Express has started in Groningen (NL) with a CityHub for sustainable city distribution. It is a local operation with a parcel shop function from which cargo bike couriers, in particular, deliver and collect parcels and where consumers can pick up and send shipments themselves.
Micro-shopping trips, defined as trips that take less than five minutes, are becoming increasingly common thanks to grocery services that let customers order online and pick up in-store. The increase is attributed to lockers, where shoppers can pick up preordered items. Bryan Pearson reports about it in Forbes.
Using metro and tram for urban freight could be a good plan. TramSit is a new logistics system to transfer cargo to and from dense cities without the need of any motorized vehicle like vans and trucks based on containerisation.
Dutch e-groceries company Picnic is taking responsibility for decreasing the energy footprint. Picnic’s mission is to: maximise energy efficiency, source electricity from 100% renewables and ensure that energy is used when supply is high and demand is low.
PostNL is replacing 20 car trips with diesel delivery vans in Utrecht (NL) every day through more sustainable delivery with electric cargo bikes and light electric vehicles. PostNL previously did this in Amsterdam (NL). PostNL delivers business mail and empties more than 150 letter boxes in the city.
Major European cities have become a testing ground for the next phase of city delivery for UPS. UPS Chief Information and Engineering Officer Juan Perez talked about the future of the UPS network; how they are integrating technology to connect the facilities, fleet, drivers and information systems fueling a more sustainable global network.
Delivering affordable, high-quality products to the billions of people who live in poorly served or remote locations presents a huge opportunity for innovative social enterprises. Unilever is now sharing their expertise to help them create successful ‘last-mile distribution’ models.
Food couriers have recently joined truck and taxi drivers in the category of jobs that are most likely to be made obsolete by self-driving technology. Ford is currently experimenting with self-driving delivery vans in Miami since earlier this year. And more recently, Ford joined with Postmates to see how people ordering takeout food would interact with …