Cara Wang

Fostering the Use of Unassisted Off-Hour Deliveries: Operational and Low-Noise Truck Technologies

The main objective of this paper is to provide an overview of the technologies available for use in unassisted off-hour deliveries (i.e., deliveries made outside of regular business hours without the presence of receiving staff). The focus is on technologies that monitor and provide access, on some level, to the establishment and those that lessen or eliminate the noise created by delivery trucks and equipment. This paper also touches on the costs and benefits to companies that use unassisted off-hour deliveries and, ultimately, the question of who should cover the costs of the technologies. This issue is tied to the discussion of policy implications and how the public sector can help increase the adoption of these delivery programs.

The New York City Off-Hour Delivery Program: A Business and Community-Friendly Sustainability Program

The New York City Off-Hour Delivery (NYC OHD) program is the work of a private-public-academic partnership—a collaborative effort of leading private-sector groups and companies, public-sector agencies led by the New York City Department of Transportation, and research partners led by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. The efforts of this partnership have induced more than 400 commercial establishments in NYC to accept OHD without supervision. The economic benefits are considerable: the carriers have reduced operational costs and parking fines by 45 percent; the receivers enjoy more reliable deliveries, enabling them to reduce inventory levels; the truck drivers have less stress, shorter work hours, and easier deliveries and parking; the delivery trucks produce 55–67 percent less emissions than they would during regular-hour deliveries, for a net reduction of 2.5 million tons of CO2 per year; and citizens’ quality of life increases as a result of reduced conflicts between delivery trucks, cars, bicycles, an...