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Student Thesis and Dissertations

Modeling of Urban Freight Deliveries: Operational Performance at the Final 50 Feet

 
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Publication Date: 2021
Summary:

The demand for goods and services is rapidly increasing in cities, in part due to the rise in online shopping and more varied delivery options. Cities around the world are experiencing an influx of goods pickup and delivery activities. The movement of goods within urban areas can be very constraining with high levels of congestion and insufficient curb spaces. Pick-up and delivery activities, specifically those that are out of vehicle activities, encompass a significant portion of urban goods movement and inefficient operations can negatively impact the already highly congested areas and truck dwell times. This dissertation aims to provide insights and data-driven approaches to support freight plans in various cities around the globe with a focus on urban freight deliveries. To accomplish this goal, this dissertation first proposes to discover the current delivery process at the final 50 feet by creating value stream maps that summarize the flow of delivery activities and times, and time variations between activities. The map will be based on the data collected from five freight-attracting buildings in downtown Seattle. Secondly, this research explores contributing factors associated with dwell time for commercial vehicles by building regression models. Dwell time, in this study, is defined as the time that delivery workers spend performing out-of-vehicle activities while their vehicle is parked. Finally, this dissertation predicts the total time spent at the final 50 feet of delivery, including dwell times and parking-related times through discrete event simulations for various “what if” delivery scenarios. Multi-objective simulation-based optimization algorithms were further used to discover the optimal numbers of parking and building resources (e.g. number of on and off-street parking capacity, number of security guards or receptionists). This aims to better understand how increased deliveries in urban cities can impact the cost distributions between city planners, building managers, and delivery workers. This will also identify the areas for improvement in terms of infrastructure and resources to better prepare for the future delivery demands based on various scenarios.

Authors: Haena Kim
Recommended Citation:
Kim, Haena (2021). Modeling of Urban Freight Deliveries: Operational Performance at the Final 50 Feet. University of Washington Ph.D. Dissertation.
Paper

A Mobile Application for Collecting Task Time Data for Value Stream Mapping of the Final 50 Feet of Urban Goods Delivery Processes

 
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Publication: Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting
Volume: 62
Pages: 1808-1812
Publication Date: 2018
Summary:

Delivery options have become very diverse with online shoppers demanding faster delivery options (e.g, 2-day delivery, same day delivery options) and more personalized services. For this reason, transportation planners, retailers, and delivery companies are seeking ways to better understand how best to deliver goods and services in urban areas while minimizing disruption to traffic, parking, and building operations. This includes understanding vertical and horizontal goods movements within urban areas.

The goal of this project is to capture the delivery processes within urban buildings in order to minimize these disruptions. This is achieved using a systems approach to understanding the flow of activities and workers as they deliver goods within urban buildings. A mobile application was designed to collect the start and stop times for each task within the delivery process for 31 carriers as they deliver goods within a 62-story office building.

The process flow map helped identify bottlenecks and areas for improvements in the final segment of the delivery operations: the final 50 feet. It also highlighted consistent tasks conducted by all carriers as well as differences with given carrier type. This information is useful to help decision-makers plan appropriately for the design of future cities that encompass a variety of delivery processes.

Authors: Haena KimDr. Anne Goodchild, Linda Ng Boyle
Recommended Citation:
Kim, Haena, Linda Ng Boyle, and Anne Goodchild. (2018) "A Mobile Application for Collecting Task Time Data for Value Stream Mapping of the Final 50 Feet of Urban Goods Delivery Processes." In Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting, 62(1), 1808–1812. https://doi.org/10.1177/1541931218621410
Article

Deliver it All: In an Age of Expanding Online Commerce, Is Home Delivery Greener Than Sending Full Truckloads of Goods to Stores and Then Customers Driving to Them?

Publication: Supply Chain Management Review
Pages: 20-26
Publication Date: 2016
Summary:

In an age of expanding online commerce, is home delivery greener than sending full truckloads of goods to stores and then customers driving to them? A detailed regional study finds compelling answers.

Readers who were teenagers in the 1980s may remember driving to a Sam Goody store to buy music. You probably also remember your disappointment when sometimes the tape or CD wasn’t in stock when you arrived. Perhaps you returned to your car and headed for Tower Records to try your luck there.

Your kids would probably find this story inconceivable today. The advent of the internet has profoundly altered consumer expectations. Immediate gratification is getting closer by the day; you can now obtain your favorite song in seconds, and order and receive physical goods in as little as a few hours in some urban areas.

Today’s ninth-grader expects to find any product she wants in seconds and order it right away on her smartphone. What’s more, she expects that the order will be accurate, complete, well-packed, and easy to return if desired.

Authors: Dr. Anne GoodchildBill Keough, Erica Wygonik
Recommended Citation:
Goodchild, Anne Victoria, Erica Wygonik, and Bill Keough. "Deliver it all." Supply Chain Management Review (2016).