In the Media

The last mile is the “current” obsession of the supply chain industry because it can be the most costly, said Anne Goodchild, founding director of the Supply Chain Transportation and Logistics Center at the University of Washington. 

Invited to the nation’s capital, CEE professor Anne Goodchild presented testimony on December 5 at a joint hearing before the U.S. House Subcommittee on Highways and Transit and the Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines and Hazardous Materials. 

Anne Goodchild, the director of the University of Washington’s Supply Chain Transportation and Logistics Center, pointed out that cargo bikes are smaller, nimbler and easier to maneuver than trucks and emit no greenhouse gases.

A delivery truck can carry 400 parcel packages on average, versus the 40 parcels a cargo bike can take, according to a study published this year by the Urban Freight Lab.

“There’s definitely the potential for delivery services to be an environmental asset,” said Anne Goodchild, director of the University of Washington’s Supply Chain Transportation and Logistics Center.

With online shopping now accounting for roughly 10% of retail purchases, companies are working hard to deliver packages faster than ever — and with the changing delivery landscape, there are some growing pains. Anne Goodchild, the director of Supply Chain Transport & Logistics at the University of Washington, says the delivery side of e-commerce is a work in progress.

Anne Goodchild says your item might be on its way to you before you even click to order.

Retailers are using machine learning technology to predict what shoppers may buy and then placing those items in stores and warehouses closer to them, said Anne Goodchild, the director of the Supply Chain Transportation and Logistics Center at the University of Washington.

"It's contributing significantly to our carbon footprint as a region and as a country. And those are problems," said Anne Goodchild, director of the University of Washington’s Supply Chain Transportation and Logistics Center.

In the U.S., the prevailing approach to freight policy is to rely on market-based solutions to achieve consumer convenience and profitability, explains University of Washington freight expert Anne Goodchild.

Delivery drones help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but it's complicated. Anne Goodchild says: "We shouldn’t just compare drones versus trucks."

Seattle is partnering with logistics companies in the Urban Freight Lab to address the impact of frequent deliveries on everyday life.

“There’s definitely the potential for delivery services to be an environmental asset,” said Anne Goodchild, director of the University of Washington’s Supply Chain Transportation and Logistics Center. Just as mass transit moves lots of people efficiently, there are better ways to move goods.

The final mile is so 2018.

This week, we’re joined by Dr. Anne Goodchild of the University of Washington’s Urban Freight Lab. We chat with Goodchild about what’s missing from the urban transportation discussion, the ideas they are testing for better deliveries, and the future of streets.