Alan C. McKinnon

Comparative analysis of the carbon footprints of conventional and online retailing: A “last mile” perspective

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to focus on the carbon intensity of “last mile” deliveries (i.e. deliveries of goods from local depots to the home) and personal shopping trips.Design/methodology/approach – Several last mile scenarios are constructed for the purchase of small, non‐food items, such as books, CDs, clothing, cameras and household items. Official government data, operational data from a large logistics service provider, face‐to‐face and telephone interviews with company managers and realistic assumptions derived from the literature form the basis of the calculations. Allowance has been made for home delivery failures, “browsing” trips to the shops and the return of unwanted goods.Findings – Overall, the research suggests that, while neither home delivery nor conventional shopping has an absolute CO2 advantage, on average, the home delivery operation is likely to generate less CO2 than the typical shopping trip. Nevertheless, CO2 emissions per item for intensive/infrequent shopping trips...

Decoupling of Road Freight Transport and Economic Growth Trends in the UK: An Exploratory Analysis

Abstract Between 1997 and 2004, gross domestic product increased in real terms in the UK by one‐fifth, while the volume of road freight movement remained stable. This suggests that the long‐awaited decoupling of economic and freight transport growth has begun, possibly leading to a new era of sustainable logistics. This paper reviews previous research on the decoupling issue and recent trends in gross domestic product/freight tonne‐km elasticities in Europe and the USA. It then examines 12 possible causes of the observed decoupling in the UK using published statistics from a wide range of British and European sources. This analysis indicates that around two‐thirds of the decoupling is due to three factors whose impact can be quantified: the increased penetration of the British road haulage market by foreign operators, a decline in road transport’s share of the freight market, and real increases in road freight rates. Several other factors, most notably the relative growth of the service sector, the diminishing rate of centralization, and the off‐shoring of manufacturing, appear to be having a significant effect, though this finding cannot be measured on the basis of available statistics. The paper concludes that, while the decoupling is in the right direction from a public policy standpoint, the net environmental benefits are likely to be quite modest.

Product‐level carbon auditing of supply chains: Environmental imperative or wasteful distraction?

Purpose – Interest in product‐level carbon auditing and labelling has been growing in both business and government circles. The purpose of this paper is to examine the practical problems and costs associated with highly disaggregated analyses of greenhouse gas emissions from supply chains. It then weighs these problems and costs against the potential benefits of the carbon labelling of products.Design/methodology/approach – The views expressed in this paper are based on a review of relevant literature, informal discussions with senior managers and personal experience with the practices being investigated.Findings – Stock‐keeping unit‐level carbon auditing of supply chains and the related carbon labelling of products will be fraught with difficulty and very costly. While simplification of the auditing process, the use of data inventories and software support may assist these processes, the practicality of applying them to all consumer products seems very doubtful. The resulting benefits to companies and co...

The potential for reducing empty running by trucks: a retrospective analysis

Purpose – The aim is to examine the recent trend in empty running by trucks in the UK and assesses the potential for a further reduction in empty running in the food supply chain using a new technique.Design/methodology/approach – Data from the UK Governments main road freight survey and other studies are used to investigate the causes of the decline in empty running. Previous attempts to quantify opportunities for backloading are reviewed. The 2002 KPI Survey in the UK food supply chain created a large multi‐fleet database of over 20,000 trips, which permitted retrospective analysis of backloading opportunities. A method was devised to screen these opportunities against four selection criteria and assess the overall potential for cutting empty truck‐kms.Findings – Suitable backloads were found for only 2.4 per cent of the empty journey legs, representing 2 per cent of empty truck‐kms. The analysis highlights the operational constraints on backloading in a sector characterised by short average trip lengt...

Retail logistics in the UK: past, present and future

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the logistical transformation of British retailing over the last three decades and to discuss likely challenges that face logistics managers in the future.Design/methodology/approach – Reviews the key works on retail logistics, including the research undertaken by the authors over the last 20 years.Findings – Illustrates how retailers have control of the supply chain in the UK, drawing upon examples from both the grocery and fashion sectors. Challenges for the future include macro‐environment issues such as climate change and recession in addition to improvements in existing in operations with regard to e‐fulfilment and implementation of technologies such as RFID.Originality/value – This paper provides one of the few contributions to appraise the research undertaken on retail logistics in the UK over the last 20‐30 years.

Logistical restructuring and road freight traffic growth

The forecasting of road freight traffic has relied heavily on the close correlation between GDP and road tonne-kilometers. It has not been rooted in an understanding of the causes of freight traffic growth. The research reported in this paper has investigated this process of traffic growth in two ways: first, by analysing official data on the production, consumption and movement of food and drink products, and second, by conducting a survey of the changing freight transport requirements of 88 large British-based manufacturers.The analysis of secondary data shows how, in the food and drink sector, the relationship between the real value of output and road vehicle-kms hinges on four key parameters: value density, handling factor, average length of haul and consignment size. An attempt is made to explain variations in these parameters.The survey of manufacturers suggests that the growth of lorry traffic is the net result of a complex interaction between factors operating at four levels of logistical management: strategic planning of logistical systems, choice of suppliers and distributors, scheduling of product flow and the management of transport resources. Changes in the frequency and scheduling of freight deliveries in response to tightening customer service requirements and just-in-time management appear to have become a more prevalent cause of freight traffic growth than the physical restructuring of logistical systems. Manufacturers anticipate that their road freight demand will broadly increase in line with sales and be largely unaffected by road transport cost increases at the levels currently proposed. The paper concludes by examining their likely reactions to a much sharper increase in the cost of road freight movement.

Physical distribution service quality in online retailing

Purpose – Many traditional retailers use the internet as a complementary business channel while “pure player” retailers only sell products via the internet. The question of who is better at offering electronic physical distribution service quality (e‐PDSQ) is open to debate. But, despite e‐PDSQs importance there are few empirical studies and most have focused on general service quality of internet shopping or web site design. The purpose of this paper is to discuss and empirically test a conceptual framework for e‐PDSQ from the consumers perspective.Design/methodology/approach – This paper follows a two‐stage paradigm for scale and construct development, which is presented in a framework based on the concept of order fulfilment as a key driver in e‐PDSQ. Consumer postal surveys were conducted in Edinburgh, UK.Findings – The consumer survey confirmed the appropriateness of the adopted e‐PDSQ framework. The finding that price is the most important online purchasing criteria is in accordance with Verdict w...

Use of a synchronised vehicle audit to determine opportunities for improving transport efficiency in a supply chain

The benchmarking of freight transport efficiency is a key element in the UK governments sustainable distribution strategy. In recent years, the government has sponsored several road transport benchmarking exercises. This paper summarises the results of the second major key performance indicator (KPI) survey of road transport in the food supply chain carried out in 2002. This survey took the form of a synchronised audit of the efficiency of 53 vehicle fleets over a 48-hour period. Five sets of KPIs were monitored relating to vehicle fill, empty running, fuel efficiency, vehicle time utilisation and deviations from schedule. A composite index of energy intensity was calculated to assess the combined effect of vehicle utilisation and fuel efficiency on operating costs and CO2 emissions. Analysis of the KPI data revealed wide variation both within and between industry sub-sectors. Some of this variation was attributable to differences in the nature of the distribution operation. There was also evidence that some companies could achieve significant improvements in transport efficiency by emulating current best practice within their particular sub-sector. The paper concludes with a review of the limitations of this research and recommendations for future surveys of this type.

An empirical examination of the contribution of capabilities to the competitiveness of logistics service providers: A perspective from China

Purpose – This paper aims to report on an investigation of logistics service provider (LSP) capabilities and how these capabilities contribute to LSP competitiveness in the context of China.Design/methodology/approach – This paper draws on work from economics and strategy on firm‐level competitiveness, particularly the resource‐based view, to develop and empirically examined 13 firm‐specific capability constructs based on a survey of Chinese LSPs.Findings – Exploratory factor analysis and factor analysis regression indicated all 13 constructs are critical to a Chinese LSPs competitiveness and are interlinked in contributing to it. The findings also revealed the most critical capability is service quality; this capability was further assessed and two sub‐constructs of operations and relationship management emerged.Practical implications – The results of the empirical study provide a useful way for LSP managers to identify and appraise their firms capabilities and competitiveness.Originality/value – This ...

A review of European truck tolling schemes and assessment of their possible impact on logistics systems

Truck tolling schemes have been introduced in Switzerland, Austria and Germany. Britain was planning to launch a lorry road user charging (LRUC) system in 2008, though this has been indefinitely delayed. This paper reviews the various schemes and reveals wide differences in their objectives, coverage, technology, procedures and toll levels. The proposed British system would have been the most complex, allowing tolls to be varied by vehicle type, class of road, geographical area and time of day. The paper also assesses the possible effects of lorry road-user charging on a range of logistical variables, including system design, freight modal choice, truck utilisation, vehicle routing and the scheduling of deliveries. It shows how its logistical effects will depend on the nature of the tolling scheme and level of charges.