ITS UK: freight experts call for technology to support deliveries

Members of ITS (UK)’s Freight Interest Group have raised concerns that relying on autonomous vehicles and platooning to provide future solutions may be diverting attention away from current technology which could help in the short-to-medium-term, at the Industry 4.0 Summit in Manchester. The group suggested that logistics efficiency could be improved by better communication with light goods vehicle drivers. Additionally, signal timing technology could decrease the number of stops that Heavy Goods Vehicles
March 5, 2018 Read time: 2 mins

Members of ITS (UK)’s Freight Interest Group have raised concerns that relying on autonomous vehicles and platooning to provide future solutions may be diverting attention away from current technology which could help in the short-to-medium-term, at the Industry 4.0 Summit in Manchester.

The group suggested that logistics efficiency could be improved by better communication with light goods vehicle drivers. Additionally, signal timing technology could decrease the number of stops that Heavy Goods Vehicles make in towns and city centres to help reduce congestion and emissions, and that this technology has been successful with lorries transporting wings for Airbus planes moving to Bristol.

At the event, the forum heard how the production of some goods are finished and packaged locally in an added value logistics warehouse or fulfilment centre and then taken the last few miles for delivery. The new ways of working highlight the need for the logistics industry to utilise alternatives to deiseal lorries to comply with green city aspirations.

Geoff Clarke, hon secretary of the Freight Interest Group of %$Linker: 2 External <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 0 0 0 link-external AECOM Aecom Website Link false http://www.aecom.com/ false false%>, said: “It was heartening to hear many interesting ideas for using technology to assist logistics in the future. Many of those solutions exist today in the passenger transport industry and could easily be used by and for freight companies as well. At the event where the way factories will operate in the future was showcased, it is clear that the freight industry will have to embrace more technology in order to keep up.”

Jennie Martin, ITS (UK) secretary general, added: “The Industry 4.0 Summit showed a lot about how the Internet of Things and blockchain will revolutionise manufacturing, and with logistics as a key part of the supply chain, there are many opportunities for the technology to play its part in the delivery of those goods as well. ITS (UK)'s range of expertise can help facilitate an understanding of these emerging solutions.

Related Content

  • Vehicle and Road Automation website launched
    February 18, 2014
    In order to promote the exchange of information and research on vehicle and road automation activities in Europe and beyond, the Vehicle and Road Automation (VRA) project has launched its website, together with other online tools to promote and expand the VRA community: The VRA wiki, www.vra-net.eu/wiki, is a user-edited shared resource for road vehicle automation activities around the world, containing details on around forty projects, with an abstract, contact point, website, sponsor, budget/funding an
    Read More
  • Complete Streets Symposium
    September 25, 2014
    ITS America’s last symposium event of 2014 is the Complete Streets Symposium, to be held in Atlanta, Georgia, on 20 and 21 October, co-hosted by ITS Georgia. The two-day event focuses on how safety, redevelopment, urban freight movement and ITS technologies enhance a complete streets network and the transportation experience as a whole. Keynote speaker is Keith T. Parker, general manager and chief executive officer of the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority's (MARTA), the nation’s ninth large
    Read More
  • ITS America: 2018 Call for Papers/ sessions now open, Detroit
    December 21, 2017
    The Intelligent Transportation Society of America (ITS America) is now accepting papers to narrate this year’s theme, Transportation 2.0, for its 27th Annual Meeting technical program. The event will take place from 4-7 June 2018, in Detroit, Michigan. Papers for this year need to be related to one of six main topics: Connectivity, Autonomy and the Future of Transportation; Cybersecurity and Privacy Opportunities and Challenges; Electrification and Infrastructure and; Regulatory and Financial Challenges
    Read More
  • New e-book provides update on smart mobility in the UAE
    January 18, 2016
    In advance of the second Annual ITS & Smart Mobility Forum taking place from 21-22 March 2016 in Abu Dhabi, UAE, the organiser, International Quality and Productivity Centre (IQPC), has produced a complimentary e-book, Update on Smart Mobility Initiatives in the UAE.
    Read More

Highlighted Content