Grid Smarter Cities: Solving Urban Mobility Problems for Freight Operators & City Authorities
Operating in urban areas is a complex and costly challenge for freight carriers
The recent Commercial Vehicle Industry Monitor White Paper provides an analysis of the key challenges faced by UK operators and in particular highlighting issues such as urban regulations.
It identifies; ‘City life problems — operating in urban areas is a complex and costly challenge for freight carriers.’
and goes on — “Traditional problems faced by hauliers working in busy towns and cities include lost time from lorries stuck in congestion, penalty charge notices from a lack of suitable kerbside loading capacity, time restricted delivery windows and the heightened safety risks from sharing road space with increasing numbers of vulnerable road users. However, the past few years has seen a raft of city-centric legislation emerging, driven by a desire to make urban areas cleaner, safer environments for those who live and work there. And unfortunately, HGV operators have found themselves facing punitive charges for simply carrying out an essential job function.
The article also contains a word of warning to cities and city businesses that 72% of operators would consider exiting a contract if regulations became too costly.
FTA estimates that it costs around £1 a minute for an HGV8 to be idling in traffic, meaning congestion is a costly factor in servicing urban areas; adding to the cost of road freight also increases the cost of living or operating a business. Stop-start traffic also has a significant impact on fuel consumption.
Source: FTA Logistics Report 2019
Grid’s Kerbside management solution can help to ease the pressure on city authorities and commercial operators. This new, dynamic solution is already gaining international interest and uptake.
Grid Founder and CEO Neil Herron states:
“With an increase in e-commerce and a reduction in available kerbspace with outdoor eateries, cycle lanes, pedestrianisation and low traffic neighbourhoods it is becoming increasingly apparent that intelligent management of city kerbspace needed and needed now. We have developed the Kerb ‘playbook’ to allow local authorities to efficiently manage kerbspace and match the nuanced and different needs of the operators whether that be by location, time or use case. We will look back in ten years’ time and say ‘did we really allow commercial vehicles to fight for the kerb on a first come first served basis rather than book their slots? It is now so obvious and has the potential to deliver a win-win scenario for operators and the city as well as the reducing congestion and improving air quality it just needs the progression to adoption and scale and triggering of the beneficial outcomes for all.”
For more information check out www.kerbUK.com or contact Hello@gridsmartercities.com
