mETRO mOVES
BRINGING INVENTORY CLOSER Another key challenge to urban logistics is dispatch
the speed the higher the costs. That’s because it becomes more dif cult to queue up other orders to be delivered in the same area during the same time window, preventing consolidation of deliveries and leading to more trips. “Shippers make moves either by using third-party logistics providers, which are aggregators of volume, or by placing their inventory closer and closer to the edge of the urban area so they can service major cities with much quicker lead time,” Bryant says. “Having that inventory closer helps with the speed.” In fact, the best opportunity to make urban logistics more ef cient and cost- effective will be creating additional micro-hubs that are located close to city centers, according to Marti. “The biggest focus will be on that micro strategy,” Marti says. “Companies will see who can get closest to the customer because that reduces their transportation costs. The closer they get, the better coverage they get—and the lower their transportation costs.” A. Duie Pyle is also a proponent of building consolidation centers
outside of urban areas to provide the greatest overall bene t for urban logistics operations. “The whole industry needs to work together to eliminate the number of delivery vehicles in urban areas, especially during peak hours,” Granieri notes. “Using freight consolidation centers that perform advanced receiving outside of urban areas and then deliver into urban areas in off-peak hours seems likely to be the most thoroughly bene cial solution for everyone.” THE POWER OF POLICY The difference between identifying solutions for urban logistics and implementing them is stark, and there is a need for all stakeholders in the freight industry to collaborate to achieve mutually bene cial initiatives. “We need a shift in urban planning at the policy level,” Granieri says. “Shifting to off-peak deliveries and utilizing consolidation centers can reduce congestion, but it comes at a cost. Someone has to pay for the additional handling, security screening, appointment setting—everything entailed in an optimal nal- mile operation.” To prove the concept, he adds, would take one building willing to adjust the way they receive their freight. “That could prove to be a game-changer for that neighborhood, and eventually the whole city,” he says. Private businesses should not be the only ones working to solve urban logistics challenges, particularly as it relates to positioning products closer to city consumers. “The public sector should think about how we can support that,” Goodchild says. “Some of the challenge is land use. It can be hard to put what’s classi ed as warehousing in a commercial district. “We need to upgrade our land-use codes,” she says, “as well as the way we think about the use of space.” ■
location. Origin points for last-mile deliveries differ depending on their location.
“Urban areas typically have less land, and it’s more expensive than in a suburban area,” says Chris Marti, senior director of business development for Atlanta-based FORTNA, which offers warehouse optimization, design, and automation services. “In suburban areas, businesses are more likely to build larger facilities and ship deliveries directly out of them.” In dense urban environments, however, limited space changes the equation. “The only land available often can’t support a large distribution center, so we’re seeing the rise of smaller micro-ful llment centers,” Marti adds. These compact facilities help facilitate last-mile deliveries ef ciently by leveraging multiple smaller spaces across urban areas. The density of cities helps allow for expedient deliveries, but the faster
A lack of available parking plagues shippers executing urban logistics. Some companies consolidate urban-delivery items in micro-centers at the edges of cities and then implement o-hour deliveries as one solution to parking constraints.
130 Inbound Logistics • January 2025
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