In ten years' time, 100 thousand parcels a day will be delivered in Amsterdam alone. Especially meals and groceries we will order online more often. So says lector city logistics Walther Ploos van Amstel in the Parool.
In our capital, 40 thousand parcels are now delivered every day. This often causes problems with delivery vans blocking narrow streets and holding up traffic. According to Ploos van Amstel, the city cannot cope with doubling the number of delivery vans. Delivery by cargobikes, bicycle couriers or in parcel lockers is also not a permanent solution, according to the lecturer.
However, the number of traffic movements at neighbourhood level can be reduced by delivering parcels to neighbours when a resident is not at home. There are already many initiatives in this area. Today, for instance, Amsterdam start-up Homerr is launching a mobile app that connects neighbours who are regularly at home with neighbours who cannot be at home to receive their parcels. Research firm Scherper conducted research commissioned by Homerr on the perception of parcel delivery among over 1,000 respondents. According to the study, more than 90 per cent of online consumers sometimes fail the first delivery attempt. Scheduled delivery to neighbours means delivery vans only need to be in a particular street once. Start-ups BuurtMus, ViaTim and Confy also work this way. Another solution is cargo-sharing, which the Utrecht start-up Trunkrs is working on. This allows neighbours to drive past a distribution point after work to take their neighbours' online orders. The neighbours have to drive into the neighbourhood anyway and let the orders 'hitch a ride', so to speak.
Editorial LogistiekProfs
