According to the Department for Transport (DfT), 2015 was a record for UK congestion levels. Major contributors to the high levels of congestion is the delivery industry, fuelled by home delivery and online retail putting more vans on the road.
The Department for Transport (DfT) announced on the 12th of February, “The provisional figure of 317.8bn vehicle miles travelled on GB roads in 2015 is the highest rolling annual total ever and 1.1% higher than the pre-recession peak in the year ending September 2007. Rolling annual motor vehicle traffic has increased for the eleventh quarter in succession.”
The Department for Transport (DfT) added: “Van traffic continued to rise faster than any other vehicle type, increasing by 6.1% to a new peak of 47.7bn vehicle miles.”. London Mayor Boris Johnson, has already expressed his concern and is encouraging incentives for the development of “click and collect” options to help to alleviate the problem.
According to the BBC, recent studies by the transport information company Inrix have shown that London is now the most congested city in Europe. According to the BBC, “The capital’s drivers spent an average of 96 hours stuck in traffic last year – almost a day longer than the runner-up, Brussels.”
The report concluded that all five of the UK’s most congested roads are in London, with the A217 and A215 heading the list. According to TFL “the economic growth and a big population increase were creating more traffic and that drivers in the capital spent 14 hours more in their vehicles compared to 2013.”
So what can the average courier company do to counteract this growing phenomenon? One way that couriers can counteract the Impact of record congestion levels, is by planning routes more efficiently taking into account distance, and traffic flow. The advancements in google maps technology means that traffic flow can now be analysed as part of navigation, showing alternative routes with less traffic.
The team at Metafour are currently working on Pathfinder, a new route optimisation module for the NetCourier software range. Path Finder streamlines multi pick-up and multi drop runs to help couriers reduce driving time, meet deadlines, and save fuel costs. The accumulated cost and time saving adds value that can be passed on to your customers. Offer an improved service and compete more effectively for timed deliveries, or simply increase your profit margins.
Path Finder
- Full integration to Google maps
- Track vehicles in real time
- Monitor run progress by driver
- Drag and drop re-assigns jobs on the fly
- Mobile app integration for drivers
Source: Department for Transport, BBC and Post & Parcel
