Transport minister Paul Clark has reinforced his view that quiet night-time deliveries will be able to tackle urban congestion, reduce carbon emissions and encourage more reliable deliveries without impacting on the lives of local residents at the FTA’s Urban Logistics Conferenc.
Clark, parliamentary under secretary of State for Transport, said: “Quiet out-of-hours deliveries can reduce congestion, cut pollution in local areas and save businesses time and money.
“With the adoption of best practice in quiet delivery technology and techniques, a balance can be found between protecting residents and relaxing curfews for a range of locations and store types.”
The comments follow the introduction of The Quiet Deliveries Demonstration Scheme (QDDS) in January, an initiative backed by the Department for Transport (DfT), the Noise Abatement Society (NAS) and FTA.
Each trial requires a local authority to work with a retailer and implement quiet night-time deliveries using best practice procedure.
Each participant will be subject to specialist noise mitigation assessments at the end of the trial.
Natalie Chapman, FTA’s Head of Policy for London, said: “Great improvements need not mean great compromise. By establishing a solid best practice framework, night-time deliveries can achieve all the benefits associated with reducing congestion with none of the perceived drawbacks of making deliveries during off-peak hours.”
