Overview
TRAILBLAZER aimed to showcase existing good practices and promote public sector policy interventions which can bring about a reduction in energy used in urban freight transport. This will be achieved by municipalities, in partnership with their suppliers and the private sector through the implementation of Delivery and Servicing Plans (DSPs).
The TRAILBLAZER project is co-funded by the Intelligent Energy Europe (IEE) programme within the Energy Efficient Transport (STEER) stream. The objectives of the project are in line with two IEE Priorities. These are:
- Promote co-ordination, management, and information mechanisms and motivation to fleet operators, retailers and stakeholders in the freight sector about measures to increase the energy efficiency of fleet operations and driving.
- Support learning and exchanges between practitioners, employees of regulating and administrative bodies or experts, for example through exchanges of staff (e.g. shadowing an experienced colleague, on the job training by practitioners or internships), audits or networking activities in order to transfer knowledge and experience.
The four specific objectives for TRAILBLAZER are:
- Implement the actions contained in the Delivery and Servicing Plans produced by the four PATHFINDER cities of Eskilstuna (Sweden), Växjö (Sweden), Vercelli (Italy) and Zagreb (Croatia). Each Delivery and Servicing Plan will be tailored to the City that it supports, so the outputs will be specific to each municipality, for instance one city may implement a consolidation centre whilst another may increase the number of out of hours deliveries. Therefore the result indicators and targets for success will vary, for example fewer vehicles making deliveries or more efficient vehicle operation. The specific outputs, result indicators and targets will be clearly set out in each city’s Delivery and Servicing Plan.
- Evidence reduced energy use by freight transport in PATHFINDER cities following production of Delivery and Servicing Plans.This will form part of the evaluation process. It will be achieved by comparing baseline energy use with actual or projected energy use following production and implementation of the actions contained in the PATHFINDER city’s DSPs. The aim is to achieve a 10% reduction in fuel used.
- Transfer knowledge and exchange experience between experienced and less experienced municipalities, private sector organisations, freight transport operators and project stakeholders.This is TRAILBLAZER's core activity and will directly contribute to the success of the project. The component outputs of this objective are four study visits to TRAILBLAZER by PATHFINDER cities and Public and Private ASSIMILATORs; establishment of a Public and Private Sector User Group to contribute towards project success; production of four Delivery and Servicing Plans by PATHFINDER cities; and implementation of the actions contained in the Delivery and Servicing Plans.
- Promote best practice in freight energy efficiency amongst local and regional authorities in Europe.This will be achieved through a combination of conferences, the Public and Private ASSIMILATORs; the Public and Private Sector User Group and written media e.g. case studies and a Delivery and Servicing Plan toolkit. These will be supported by the TRAILBLAZER website, regular electronic newsletters and the IEE dissemination report.
Outputs from the TRAILBLAZER project are:
- A report on the State of the Art in Delivery and Servicing Planning, supported by fifteen case studies
- A DSP Toolkit providing guidance on developing and implementing DSPs
- A Transferability Analysis of potential measures that could be implemented in a DSP
- The project final evaluation report
Results
It is clear from the actual and estimated results from the Swedish PATHFINDERS of Eskilstuna and Växjö organisational DSPs that the implementation of goods consolidation will lead to significant savings in primary energy and greenhouse gas emissions within the municipality area. The study didn’t take into account changes in their supplier’s secondary distribution systems, but given that they are now delivering larger loads to a single consolidation centre it is more than a reasonable assumption that they will make fuel savings along with the commensurate reduction in greenhouse gases.
The primary energy and greenhouse gas emission savings achieved in Vercelli and Zagreb are of a more modest level. However, these savings have been achieved purely through the actions of the municipalities themselves. The next stage of implementing an area-wide DSP is to engage with the businesses and residents in the DSP locations to see how through working together further savings can be achieved.
Technical Implications
Following the experience of implementation of the three year TRAILBLAZER project the following recommendations are made to assist with the further development of delivery and servicing plans across Europe and their take-up by both public and private sector organisations.
Recommendation 1
That EACI Continues to promote the use of delivery and servicing plans to secure ongoing savings in fuel used in freight, delivery and servicing activity; reductions in greenhouse gas emissions; and primary energy savings.
Recommendation 2
That EACI gives consideration to future projects that investigate the wider savings that can be achieved through the use of consolidation centres i.e. those made by suppliers.
Recommendation 3
That EACI gives consideration to future projects that investigate the wider savings that can be achieved through the implementation of area-wide DSPs and their transferability across the EU.
Recommendation 4
That consideration is given to in-depth longitudinal study of the Swedish municipality consolidation experience to understand the wider effects of the increasing take-up of the concept and its transferability across the EU.