How to Consolidate Urban Flows of Goods Without Setting up an Urban Consolidation Centre

Urban consolidation centres (UCC's) are a popular measure in city logistics. They are usually introduced by local governments in order to reduce the number of motorized freight vehicles entering their cities. Practice has shown, however, that most of these UCC's are granted only a short lifespan because of their strong reliance on government subsidies. Still, striving to make the best possible use of truckload capacities is important when aiming to reduce the number of urban freight vehicles on the streets. Hence, a search for alternative consolidation strategies is necessary. The goal of this paper is threefold. First of all, it goes more deeply into the causes of the current lack of urban consolidation. Secondly, the existing literature and research on city logistics was explored for previous findings on urban consolidation. At last, a framework for classification of urban consolidation measures and initiatives was developed based on a survey of already adopted alternatives.