Night time deliveries are the answer to restrictions on delivery slots for goods vehicles during the Olympics, according to the Freight Transport Association.
Natalie Chapman, the FTA’s head of policy for London, said: “The benefits of night-time deliveries are proven and irresistible; why waste time and money sitting in traffic when you don’t need to? Following extensive trials with Sainsbury’s and our work with the Noise Abatement Society we know that night-time deliveries don’t have to mean disturbance for local residents.”
The association argues that if businesses adopt best practice and work night-time deliveries into their long-term plans the benefits of transport cost reduction, more reliable deliveries and lower emissions will far outweigh the initial costs and effort.
It has been working with the Noise Abatement Society on the development of quiet delivery techniques that could be used to allow deliveries to take place at times currently restricted due to planning or noise abatement reasons. It is intended that these be used during the Games period to allow more deliveries to take place at night.
“What the Olympics and Paralympics events will do is effectively kickstart interest in adopting this practice. But our advice to business would be to take the long view: this is not a sprint but a long-distance event,” said Chapman.
“We have seen from previous Olympics that getting transport logistics right is essential to overall success. FTA will be working with TfL and the ODA to ensure that the unique challenges presented to our members by the Games – essentially more freight to deliver and less time to deliver it in – are manageable. Night-time deliveries could be a win-win for the Games and logistics.”
