The trailer carries 100% more load than conventional forms of urban freight transport, enabling operators to halve their delivery frequencies and reduce congestion, noise and pollution.
A recent study by INRIX and the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) says that, by 2030, the UK will have the highest annual rise in cost of congestion (66%) compared to the USA, Germany and France, when the economic as well as environmental cost is calculated.
The research also predicts that London will have the fastest growing levels of congestion out of all cities included in the study.
Tony Sturgess, Transdek’s head of trailer design, says the new urban double-deck trailer “offers a significant improvement to operational capability in city centres”.
He explains: “Where retail outlets do not have the capacity to take a full trailer delivery, we see that this urban double-decker will provide the opportunity for highly efficient multi-drop deliveries. The potential for this to increase efficiencies on collaborative projects between groups of retailers operating out of urban consolidation centres is also really exciting.
“Most operators think that loads should be consolidated out of town, with onward deliveries in small trucks and vans. This is an effective way of increasing vehicle fill and reducing the number of vehicles on urban roads, but will still leave a growing number of low-volume freight vehicles on the streets. However quiet and green these vehicles are, this will not help the issue of congestion.”
He believes volume is the key to increasing logistics efficiency and cutting congestion: “If each urban double-deck trailer on the roads is able to remove one rigid, or several smaller trucks, this opens up the potential to really tackle future congestion issues.”
Freight in the City is a free-to-attend exhibition that aims to show local authorities, suppliers and transport operators new ways of making deliveries in urban areas. The event also includes seminars on developments in sustainable urban delivery methods.