Everyone agrees that the 2012 Olympics were a triumph – great sporting achievements, great organisation and, most importantly from our point of view, great logistics. Much of that was down to the planning, which meant that the games were supported effectively, while at the same time the disruption to the life of the city was minimised.
And important lessons were learned – for example night time deliveries worked well with minimal disruption. So well, that there are now plans to carry out further trials of out-of-hours deliveries in London this year.
So it’s a real concern to find operators complaining about lack of information for the Glasgow Commonwealth Games which are now only five months away.
The Freight Transport Association has warned that a lack of information could have major consequences for freight and logistics operators, who now need information and more details to plan for the event and the changes to deliveries and servicing patterns to customers that this will bring.
Chris MacRae, head of policy for Scotland, said: “Planning is key to delivering essential food, drink and supplies not only to the event but also to the residents and businesses of the city, and to do so, FTA realises that preparation is vital and is asking Glasgow 2014 for important information to help our members plan ahead of the event.”
The sort of information required includes expected congestion – what roads are forecast to be impacted and when; how public transport will be impacted; details of the games route network; local area traffic management and parking plans; scheduled road events; the process for delivering into the games venue.
MacRae points out that this information doesn’t need to be perfect at this stage, what is required is enough information to enable businesses to plan ahead.
Hardly rocket science, and after the success of London, it would be a real step backwards to have a logistics failure in Glasgow.
Malory Davies FCILT,
Editor
