By Nigel Parry
 Round-up
In the UK, as with many other countries, efficient delivery of internet orders has taxed the minds of retailers and logistics professionals for years. There has been any number of ‘last mile’ solutions announced. From dedicated couriers, to drop-box schemes, lockable delivery boxes at each home, collection points at railway stations, and even delivery to workplaces in the city rather than to more costly rural addresses. Some of them still exist.
One of the latest forays is called Parcel Country, and it has more than a nod to the local communities of old. The idea is that ‘community recipients’ would take in deliveries for their neighbours so they could be collected at a convenient time. Individuals or small businesses, the organisation is looking to have around a thousand of these by the time the scheme launches, and sees the potential for up to 30,000 in the UK if the scheme really gets going.
It remains to be seen how quickly things will happen. Many years since the original idea was announced, ByBox is finally getting round to setting up ‘box bank’ pick-up points. In a leap of imagination, the organisation has signed up a deal to convert phone boxes into combined phone box cum box banks. The aim is to piggy-back on the existing power and communication links to around 1000 high-profile sites.
It may still be more expensive to carry out deliveries, as fuel costs creep higher on an almost daily basis. The promise of biofuel also seems to be receding a little, as some come to the conclusion that it is not the universal panacea it is cracked up to be. I reported last winter that, PR window-dressing aside, biofuels may actually create as many problems as they claim to solve.
UK Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly has now declared that the government will “adopt a more cautious approach” to the introduction of biofuels, in response to a report which claimed that we could damage rainforests, increase food prices and actually negate climate change efforts. Currently biofuels are required to make up a minimum of 2.5 percent of transport fuels in the UK, with a target of 5 percent within three years.
However, the government-commissioned report has led to a rethink, with that target likely to be delayed until 2013–2014.
The general feeling seems to be that eye-poppingly high oil prices are doing some of the climate change lobby’s job for them, with simple economics moving transport to more fuel-efficient solutions. Even so, the European Union seems keen to nudge things along, and has just voted to impose carbon emission restrictions on airlines
from 2012.
If they can’t curtail their polluting ways, the airlines will have to indulge in emissions trading and purchase carbon credits. The inevitable increase in costs, and presumably prices, is all the more poignant as British Airways World Cargo announced another hike in fuel surcharges at just about the same time, hitting customers with an increase of over NZ$2 per kilo.
There are further signs that the pips are continuing to squeak. It wasn’t just New Zealand that was subject to truckies’ protests recently. The spiralling cost of diesel and petrol has led to similar public outpourings of rage in many countries from Spain to South Korea, Hong Kong and Australia to the UK, where some of London was brought to a virtual standstill. There are even reports of demonstrations of public anger in Belgium.
A protesting Portuguese truck driver was reportedly killed while manning a blockade north of Lisbon. There were fuel and food shortages in parts of Spain and police had to escort fuel tanker deliveries, while just-in-time car production began unravelling. In India, water cannons and batons were used on protesters angry at fuel price increases. Interestingly, the recurring theme seems to be that governments and oil companies are the subject of the public’s ire, rather than speculators and the futures market.
Nevertheless, Chinese development seems to continue unabated. The second largest shipping company in the country behind Cosco could be created if a proposed merger of Sinotrans and China Yangtze Transportation goes ahead. The resulting China Logistics Group would be a large transport and logistics company, including shipping, freight forwarding and warehousing companies.
Smart 2009
Smart 2009, the leading Asia-Pacific event for supply chain and logistics management, will take place on 10–11 June 2009 at the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre.
The conference will comprise up to 10 information streams, each targeting a specific area of interest, and is expected to attract over 1000 delegates.
Themed as ‘Bridging the Gap with Innovation and New Business Strategy’, the event will be organised and supported by a number of industry associations, including the Logistics Association of Australia (LAA), the Australasian Production and Inventory Control Society (APICS), the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport in Australia (CILTA), the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply Australia (CIPSA), the Refrigerated Warehouse and Transport Association of Australia (RWTA), and the Supply Chain and Logistics Association of Australia (SCLAA).
For further information, visit www.smartconference.com.au or contact: Pamela Adams, conference director for Smart 2009 at admin@smartconference.com.au
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