London’s population is expected to swell to 10.5 million over the next 25 years. This growth is already putting huge pressure on the capital’s transport network as more people need to move around. But more people also creates more demand for deliveries and servicing activity.
There’s not much space in London to build new roads, so we need to think about how we use the infrastructure we have more intelligently. One way of doing this is to try and shift freight activity out of the morning peak to less congested times in the day or even overnight.
This can of course bring huge benefits to the logistics industry as journey times and fuel consumption are reduced and productivity is increased. The wider environmental and social benefits are potentially even bigger; reduced emissions leading to improved air quality and fewer lorries on the road during the school run and at peak times when there are high numbers of cyclists.
Logistics UK has been championing the benefits of retiming deliveries for many years, but we recognise that if we are going to use the roads during sensitive hours, we need to do so responsibly and quietly. So, over the last decade or so, we have been working with the Noise Abatement Society, the Department for Transport and Transport for London on initiatives to promote the use of quiet technology and working practices. Logistics UK currently chairs Transport for London’s Retiming Deliveries Consortium which, through a collaborative approach with local authorities and businesses, has promoted and enabled deliveries to be retimed and has overseen the development of tools and guidance to help others retime their deliveries.
TfL and the Consortium have helped businesses to retime deliveries at over 400 locations across the capital equating to more than 144,000 vehicle movements. Whilst there has been a lot of focus on retiming in London, the Capital’s congestion and air quality challenges are not unique - the tools and guidance that have been developed are transferable to other UK towns and cities.
Find out more
Contact Natalie Chapman, Head of South of England and Urban Policy at Logistics UK
