A new handbook from the European Commission could help road haulage companies and their drivers to work more efficiently, save money, and shape up for the new era of congestion charges in major towns and cities. The handbook, called ‘Good Practice in Freight Transport’, stresses moving away from road to rail whenever possible, something that at first sight is hardly likely to brighten a heavy duty truck driver’s day.

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But it is dealing with the real world of concern over continuing uncertainties over fuel prices, as well as the environment and the wish of consumers to buy “greener” goods that have not been transported for hundreds of miles by road. However, it also has sound advice for making road transport work more efficiently, saving costs for road haulage companies as well as protecting the environment.








The European Commission has produced the ‘Good Practice in Freight Transport’ handbook

Some of this is based on solid examples from companies throughout Europe who have tried “greener” road transport ideas for themselves. Partnerships are the key. The handbook urges road haulage and freight companies to talk to their customers, suppliers, other transport providers and expert groups on transport to find out what is available, and to compare potential costs with their present costs. Neither companies nor their customers benefit from unnecessary, stressful journeys with trucks under-used or even empty on the return trip.


One practical piece of advice from Brussels is to talk to customers and other links in the supply and movement chain to see whether co-operation could cut down the number of trucks that need to make city trips. Perhaps larger HGVs could unload at an edge-of-town depot, with smaller trucks delivering the goods at quieter times. Perhaps, too, the smaller trucks could run on fuels other than diesel or petrol. Freight companies should carry out a survey of the pattern of deliveries in a city centre, office area or industrial park, it advises.


If several different companies are delivering to two or more customers within the same small area, perhaps the deliveries could be combined so that one truck, rather than several, delivers to a particular street or industrial estate. Companies could also consider joining up with another company or organisation that already makes city-centre deliveries, again reducing truck numbers.


In Freiburg, Germany, 12 companies belong to a City Logistik scheme. Three of the partners leave city-centre deliveries at the premises of a fourth. That company then delivers all the goods to the city centre area. A second group of five partners delivers all its goods to a single depot close to the city centre. An independent contractor (City Logistik) then delivers the goods to city centre customers. The two remaining partners operate a similar relay chain for refrigerated fresh products. The Freiburg scheme has cut total journey times from 566 hours to 168 hours a month, the monthly number of lorry operations from 440 to 295, (a 33 per cent reduction), and the time spent by lorries in the city from 612 hours to 317 hours a month. Yet, the number of customers supplied stays the same.








Driver training and behaviour has its own part to play

The handbook suggests other ways of working more efficiently. Check the performance of the company’s vehicles, it says. Have vehicle numbers or their mileage increased faster than the increase in goods delivered, or profit on goods delivered? If so, find out why and work out a way of cutting down vehicle numbers and mileage. Consider using a standard computer software package to look at different ways of making routine deliveries with fewer lorries and less mileage, it says. Ask the drivers and customers for suggestions and feed these into the software for best results.


Managers should talk to other delivery companies and look into using lorries that are on the “empty” leg of a journey for other jobs, such as taking away waste packaging. They should also think about new packaging design so that volume and weight can be reduced and more units carried on each vehicle.


The handbook advises trying out computer links with vehicles to feed drivers information about routes and about available loads near to chosen routes. UK supermarkets have already been trying out these ideas. The ASDA chain has cut down from 60 direct deliveries a day from suppliers to three consolidated deliveries a day.


The Swedish retailer KF is co-operating with BTL to cut down on vehicle mileage by consolidating loads. The partners have opened a mixed consignment centre in Malmo where goods come in from 25 suppliers and are transported to 11 regional warehouses. This can cut daily deliveries to supermarkets by 75 per cent. In Dusseldorf, three department stores – Horten, Kauthof and Karstadt – now use a single haulage company for delivering goods to customers. Even the UK’s Royal Mail, which is a major user of road transport, introduced the TRANDOS routeing and scheduling computer system. Within four years, the system had helped to cut distances travelled and the number of vehicles used by 18 per cent and to cut fuel by 24 per cent. It took roughly three years to recoup the costs of installing the system in full.


Driver training and behaviour has its own part to play. Managers, says the handbook, should monitor and log the fuel consumption of all trips by all drivers (again, computer software could help here). Then, pin up this information on prominent notice boards in the depot or factory. The most fuel-efficient drivers should be given a suitable reward.


Managers should train their drivers to be considerate to other road users and to residential areas though which they have to pass. Companies should stress keeping to local speed limits and general good driving, such as picking the right gear and anticipating situations rather than slamming on the brakes. Rest periods are important, too.








Some companies offer courses to help drivers cut their fuel consumption.

Some organisations offer courses to help drivers cut their fuel consumption. Mercedes-Benz is one example, and the company says that drivers who take these courses can bring in fuel savings of 5 to 10 per cent. The European Commission wants this handbook to be read by manufacturing companies and retailers of all sizes as well as by people involved in freight transport, and road haulage, and public organisations with large vehicle fleets. “Creative voluntary initiatives can pay in both economic and environmental terms,” the Commission says. European legislation has, it says, gone a long way towards cutting down the bad effects of vehicles and fuel on the environment. Now, efforts are being made to improve the way that transport as a whole works. “We will continue to strive to reduce the costs of transport to society in this way,” the Commission stresses. It also points out that companies can save money and become more competitive by going down the “green” route. They will increase their local standing as responsible companies, and are likely to be seen as reliable and mature businesses by financial institutions considering new investment. “Communities will benefit, and so will the environment,” says the Commission.


One of its most useful sections is the contacts list at the end, giving details of companies that have made ideas work for themselves and of organisations that can help other companies to get more value out of their delivery fleet.

By Deirdre Mason and Monica Dobie






COMMENT: just-auto.com’s Dave Leggett adds:


This well-intentioned document from the European Commission is merely chipping away at the edges of a transportation policy conundrum that has had politicians gridlocked for decades. The big problem is how to get more freight traffic off the roads and on to rail. ‘Combined transport’ solutions in which long haul freight spends the major trunk element on the railways have a strong appeal. But road continues to increase its share of freight moved. Why? Two factors stand out:



  • The railway network across much of Europe is at or close to capacity. Most of the additional freight movement requirement that has resulted from economic growth over the last thirty years has been absorbed by additional road movements. Massive investment would be required to build a rail network able to effectively compete with a very much more comprehensive road network. The political will isn’t there to spend public funds on that and it is far from clear that the private sector would be interested in taking up the slack.
  • Manufacturing industry has widely adopted ‘Just-In-Time’ logistics techniques that have favoured road transport solutions (which usually offer the best flexibility, lowest cost and most timely solution on a full journey). The railways simply cannot compete effectively with road transport. It should be noted too that trucks have become increasingly productive. Rail freight has become increasingly dominated by relatively low value bulk commodities (e.g. construction aggregates) without a heavy time element. There are some notable exceptions on very long journeys (including some auto industry products that travel by rail through the Channel Tunnel), but rail will always struggle to compete because of the problem of transfer times at load and destination terminals.

There are no easy solutions to the problem of reducing road freight movements. Consolidating loads at depots at the edge of urban areas is one way to improve the situation. Transport companies will almost certainly oppose any restrictions on truck movements, but pressures on roads in urban areas will multiply further if the home delivery of final goods takes off the way some believe that it will eventually.