Good day my good friend.

Its not often that I call myself very proud to be a Brit. But this street in Nottinghamshire being named Britain’s Biggest Hedgehog Street has got me misty-eyed for old Blighty. My word, we are a strange, funny lot on this small island aren’t we?

If you have any suggestions for interesting news items or bits of research to include in this newsletter, you can email me.

James

How many lorry parks?

A question we never ask ourselves as transport planners. Because for some reason we tend not to care that much about freight, until some random person complains about too many lorries coming through the village. But the UK undertakes a national survey of lorry parking (thank you Michael Whittaker for pointing this out to me), and the latest results have been published.

In summary, there are around 4,500 more lorries than there are places to park them overnight, meaning the existing lorry parks operate above capacity. Its a complaint that lorry drivers have long argued for. More lorry parking is needed, and more of it needs to be made safer. On the average night, over 7,000 lorries park by the side of the road and on industrial estates to rest. That is…a worryingly high number. Maybe, in this case, more parking is justified.

Logistics is a bolt on

You don’t talk about logistics for ages and two good things come up at one. I liked this article on the current state of logistics when it comes to serving modern shopping habits. Particularly when it comes to the last mile. The study essentially concludes that what logistics companies do is take what they do currently and extend it a bit so that vehicle and driver costs are kept to a minimum. Its something most transport professionals know woefully little about. But what this means is that as our supply chains are so connected, one small failure can have a big effect. So you minimise the risk of that failure. COVID-19 taught us the impact of disruption to logistics.

What it comes down to is how the challenge of the last mile is framed differently. To a planner, the last mile logistics problem is too many delivery vans clogging up roads. For delivery companies, the issue is making the last mile delivery in the most cost-efficient and revenue-maximising way. The reality is that a hybrid system is likely to be needed. There is no shortage of literature studying this problem, but few understand the problem in the round.

Random things

These links are meant to make you think about the things that affect our world in transport, and not just think about transport itself. I hope that you enjoy them.

• The Climate Economy Is About to Explode (The Atlantic)

• A Biological Difference – Exercise Affects Boys and Girls Differently (SciTechDaily)

• Meet the Military Contractor Running Fare Collection in New York Subways — and Around the World (The Intercept)

• Bitcoin’s Climate Impact Is Bigger Than Beef Farming – And It’s Only Getting Worse (Science Alert)

• You thought you bought software – all you bought was a lie (The Register)

Something interesting

Needless to say that cycling in the Big Apple is somewhat different to cycling in the City of Lights. But this video comparing the two gives food for thought regardless.

If you do nothing else today, then do this

The Transport Planning Society runs an excellent Bursary competition for young professionals. And last years finalists are hosting an event. You should attend it. The Bursarians are amazing, though I have to give a shout out to Liani, who I mentored last year.