According to estimates by the Vienna Chamber of Commerce, around 200 million parcels will be delivered per year in 2030, compared to around 128 million in the previous year. With the increasing volume of parcels, delivery traffic in the cities is also increasing – a problem for the climate in times when climate protection plays an important role. As is well known, Vienna and Austria want to be climate-neutral by 2040. This leads to necessary adaptations on the so-called last mile, i.e. the route from the last distribution center to the customer.
“The last mile is the most expensive and most inefficient part of the supply chain,” emphasizes Andreas Breinbauer, Rector of the University of Applied Sciences of the BFI Vienna. He is researching transport at the University of Applied Sciences. In the last mile he sees an economic issue, a user-friendliness issue and an environmental issue. The economic issue is easy to explain: While a large number of parcels are transported on medium and long-haul routes using just one plane, train or ship, this is reduced enormously on the last mile. Studies would show that more than 50 percent of the total delivery costs arise here.
Delivery services often have to deliver twice
Because fewer packages can be transported with one vehicle, the burden on the environment naturally increases. Although there are already individual options for delivering emissions-free, diesel vehicles are often still used, explains the Verkehrsclub Österreich (VCÖ). If at least all packages were delivered on the first try, it wouldn’t be that bad. However, estimates say that only 60 to 70 percent of delivery attempts are successful. In the other cases, the delivery services either have to deliver a second time or drive to a parcel shop.
This also influences the user-friendliness. Breinbauer put it simply: “You should actually take a day off to receive the parcel.” He is alluding to the usual delivery times between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., when a large part of the population is not at home. How to solve these three problems? Experts see two possible solutions.
distribution center in the city
One possibility is the establishment of city hubs – i.e. interim storage facilities in the inner-city areas, as repeatedly brought up by politicians and interest groups. The logistics company DPD Austria has been operating a city hub in Seestadt Aspern for six years. All parcels that DPD delivers in Seestadt are delivered to this interim storage facility. From there, home deliveries are made with an e-cargo bike. Since the start, there have been around 100,000 packages.
On a larger scale, the Austrian Institute of Technology (AIT) is currently piloting a city hub in Graz. There is a central contact point for deliveries under the title GrazLog, explains project manager Martin Reinthaler. “It’s mainly regarding supplying inner-city businesses, offices and shops,” he says. Businesses can define times of day or days of the week when all orders arriving at the City Hub will be delivered. The delivery will then be made emission-free by GrazLog.
Emission-free delivery with bicycles
The delivery of a new start-up is also emission-free. Liefergrün, which has been active in Germany for some time, has been trying to gain a foothold in the competitive Viennese parcel market since November. There are 2,177 small transport companies in Vienna, plus 136 (bicycle) service companies. Liefergrün wants to make delivery more efficient. The recipients can choose a fixed delivery time, multiple trips should be saved. Deliveries in Vienna are made with bicycles and electric cars.
The packages are delivered to the warehouse in Vienna-Margareten. From there, deliveries are made to households with cargo bikes. Sascha Sauer, Managing Director at Liefergrün, still sees challenges for bike delivery in Vienna. “We would like to use more bicycles, especially in inner-city areas or around the Belt.” On the congested cycle paths, the use of cargo bikes with trailers would sometimes not be very safe. A cycling infrastructure is needed in which private and commercial bicycle traffic can find space.
Doorstep delivery as a premium feature
City hubs are an important element in shortening the last mile, says Davor Sertic, industry chairman at the Vienna Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber of Commerce suggests prominent locations such as the Heldenplatz and Schwedenplatz for underground hubs, from where the packages then come to the households. But: “The way I see the logistics, it will be a premium feature if I want the package right to my front door,” says Sertic. He reckons that delivery in parcel boxes will be the future.
A pilot project is running in Vienna under the name WienBox. It is operated by Wiener Lokalbahnen. There are currently around 400 locations in Vienna, with only 15 being from WienBox itself. The others are operated by eight partner companies, including A1 and Myflexbox. According to the local railways, the main users are parcel service providers and recipients. According to Breinbauer from the FH BFI, who is scientifically accompanying the project, the boxes have been well received.
However, only companies that cooperate with the operators can deliver to such a box. “As soon as the recipient has received the shipment notification from the delivery service, they have the option of having the package delivered to an alternative, predefined location. For example, a parcel station with which the relevant delivery service cooperates,” explained a press spokesman for Wiener Lokalbahnen.
Neutral operator for box and hub
The almost 160 pick-up stations of the largest Austrian supplier, the Austrian Post, are only available for postal deliveries. According to a guide from the Ministry of Climate, such boxes can also be managed as so-called “white label” systems. This means that different providers can use them. In Austria efforts are being made to assign separate addresses to these parcel boxes, similar to a post box. This is to make delivery easier.
A neutral operator is also an advantage for city hubs, says GrazLog project manager Reinthaler. “This enables the service providers to work together with the competition on an equal footing; a neutral operator carries out the operation and delivery over the last mile.” It was fixed in the government agreement between SPÖ and NEOS and should be in place by 2022. The city asked for patience when asked.
