ABSTRACT
Cost cutting measures through modification of operational procedures are essentially the responsibility of the private sector — shippers, receivers, and carriers — and the public sector has little direct role to play. Discussion of operational strategies is therefore directed at six topics. These include: the urban freight task, improved urban pick up and delivery practices, urban freight consolidation, off-hours shipping and receiving, truck technology, and road system technology. Radio despatching, enable the despatcher to control the pick up and delivery patterns of truck drivers on a real-time basis. Reduction in the number of trucks, especially on central city streets, would in turn lead to reduced costs of freight transport, reduced traffic congestion from both moving and parked trucks, reduced fuel consumption, lower levels of emissions and noise, and less interference with pedestrian traffic. The trucks would also pick up outbound shipments and return them to the terminal, where they would be sorted for collection by the freight company.
