November 28, 2016 — The Grand Opening of the Urban Freight Lab and the Supply Chain Transportation & Logistics (SCTL) Center received outstanding news coverage and now turns to action.
An AP national story ran in more than 250 outlets nationwide including The New York Times, Washington Post, San Francisco Chronicle, U.S. News & World Report, Miami Herald, Salt Lake Tribune, The Seattle Times and many regional outlets. There were also stories in GeekWire, Next City, on regional TV stations and NPR.
The Grand Opening was more successful than we imagined because our stakeholders helped us design, build, and set the SCTL Center into motion. Big thanks to the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) Puget Sound Chapter, both the Seattle and the Tacoma Transportation Clubs, and the Washington Trucking Associations for partnering with us and inviting your members. (And giving us a truckload of cache!)
Our strategic partnership with the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) is a keystone of the Urban Freight Lab. SDOT has shown great leadership and interest in developing new data-based knowledge and insights about the effects of truck freight parking and freight-bay action strategies proposed for implementation in the City of Seattle, before they are broadly implemented. The Lab’s founding members – Costco, Nordstrom, UPS, and USPS – and SDOT will kick off our work in December and the final report on this project will be published in early 2018.
We are grateful to the speakers who made the grand opening so engaging and interesting:
- U.S. Congressman Dave Reichert, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Trade, Co-Chair of the Congressional Freight Caucus, and a senior member of the Ways and Means Committee
- Michael Bragg, University of Washington College of Engineering Dean
- Greg Miller, University of Washington Department of Civil and Environmental Chair
- Scott Kubly, City of Seattle Department of Transportation Director
- Lorin Seeks, Convoy Operations Director
- Rob Dinwoodie, Expeditors International Regional Manager of Network Solutions
- John Thelan, Costco Wholesale Senior Vice President of Depot Operations & Traffic
The new Urban Freight Lab caught fire in the national media because we’re living at the convergence of the rise of e-commerce and fast-growing cities. People want the system to work so well that they get whatever they want, where they want it, in 1 to 2 hours. What are the economics behind that level of service? What disruptions are taking place and what can cities do to accommodate customer demand in valuable street, curb, and alley space?
At the SCTL Urban Freight Lab, we know that genuine improvements in urban goods delivery systems happen when we engage all process owners, and we’re dedicated to that goal.
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About the Supply Chain Transportation & Logistics Center: The Supply Chain Transportation and Logistics Center at the University of Washington is the go-to place to analyze and solve urban goods delivery, sustainability, logistic hubs and ports, and freight system performance management problems that overlay private and public spaces and control.