BUSINESS
Logistics
THE FUTURE OF
NOEL BYRNE, ARRIVA DIGITAL, TALKS ABOUT HOW TO SOLVE GATE INEFFICIENCY
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nefficient delivery management at construction sites in London is responsible for pumping thousands of tonnes of CO2 into the environment every year, increasing the risk of collisions and adding to congestion in an already clogged city. Failure of construction sites to properly manage deliveries by HGVs, means that hundreds of vehicles are turned away at site gates which then circle the city waiting for a new slot or are sent back only to return another day. This clearly runs counter to our goal of achieving cleaner air, safer streets, and avoiding delays in the construction process. The practice of circling HGV delivery drivers and delaying deliveries was noted in Aecom’s 2017 report Investigating the Impacts Caused by Inefficient Deliveries. This pointed out that when vehicles are turned away, they travel an average of 10 miles before the issue is rectified. Often the decision to turn a vehicle away is made by the team on the gate, not the senior team, who may find out too late that the steel required to complete their phase of the project has been sent back to Sheffield. The inefficiency cost vast quantities of time and money, but also takes a toll on people in the city in terms of pollution, increased traffic and more likely collisions. It is a problem that needs addressing. The journey to develop a technological solution to this problem ‘Origin to Destination (O2D)’ started against this backdrop. As with all things, luck played its part. In the spring of 2016, Noel Byrne met Eamonn McGurk of Keyway Group, a business that has been operating in construction and waste management since the early 1960s, and discovered that they shared many of the
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same views. The next piece of luck was meeting Dan Pinnell, Director of Prospect Training Services. Dan is a technical whizz and had already developed innovative technology for the Welsh FA as well as state-wide learning programmes in America. They decided to attack the problem together, and the concept of O2D app was born. An app was needed that would do two things. Firstly, provide full visibility of deliveries, from supplier to end-user, in real-time. Secondly, to enable vehicles to be safely diverted to a measured holding bay whenever they couldn’t be accommodated at the gate. Alex Pocklington, Principal Network Impact Assessment Engineer for Croydon came on board to work with the team, and O2D version 1.1 was released in the spring of 2019, in collaboration with the London Borough of Croydon. What is O2D? O2D is a real-time delivery management system with a unique driver contact app for rerouting, diverting, and cancelling deliveries. Alex Pocklington says; “Across London, hundreds, possibly even thousands of trucks are turned away each day at their ramps or gates due to missed time slots and then circle the city, wasting miles, increasing the risk of collisions, and rising levels of congestion and emissions. With this app, we aim to drastically reduce this issue while supporting Croydon’s construction logistics, clean air, and environmental impact initiatives. We hope this project will eventually benefit the whole of London and beyond.” The need for this is immediately apparent once the numbers are seen.
Sponsored by www.geasontraining.co.uk
According to the Aecom report, and through O2D’s own research into major construction sites and attendance at London logistics forums, they estimate that approximately 20% of all HGV vehicles delivering to London construction sites are being turned away due to on-site delays, missed time slots, or bottle necks. One major construction site in London receives 27,000 deliveries annually, of which 5,400 are turned away. If each turned away vehicle travels an average of ten extra miles, that’s a total of 54,000 unnecessary road miles ‘ the equivalent to driving twice around the world. And that’s just one London construction site. Those 54,000 extra miles produce 64,000kg of CO2 and other harmful gases. This developer alone has 12 live sites in London, which means if the other sites have similar statistics, up to 771,000kg of CO2 and other harmful gases may be pumped into the atmosphere yearly from inefficient deliveries. Sobering figures for a city that is desperately trying to reduce its high pollution levels. The app helps link up the supply chain and local authorities, and most importantly for squeezed developers, it is a free app that can be downloaded to a smart device to link up deliveries, GPS locations, and rerouting systems. This provides full visibility of any delivery in the system to suppliers, site managers, local authorities, and other key stakeholders. The use of this app should not only help businesses reduce their environmental impact but should also save them time and money. It is hoped this solution will revolutionise construction logistics, reduce harmful emissions, and further safeguard vulnerable road users, benefitting London and beyond.
