1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202 
Government pledges £2m for research into green logistics
Page 7
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
THE GOVERNMENT-funded Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council has awarded £2m to six 1.; K universities to launch a four-year study into green logistics.
The programme will study how the environmental effects of logistics can be mitigated throughout the UK, focusing on issues such as remodelling the supply chains, reverse logistics, urban freight and delivery patterns, and intermodal transport.
Alan McKinnon, professor of logistics at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, says:"We think this is a very positive move. There's a lot we can do with this amount of money which can improve the handling of logistics.
"We will be looking at the entire supply chain, but obviously road freight dominates the sector."
As well as Heriot-Watt, the work will he carried out by the universities of Leeds, Westminster, Cardiff, Southampton and Lancaster.
McKinnon is also due to publish a paper on what he calls the "road haulage gap".
Traditionally the demand for freight has been underpinned by economic growth. But this direct correlation is no more, McKinnon argues, partly because the UK economy has moved away from its historical manufacturing base and movws towards the service sector.
The traditional correlation has also been affected by shifts to other modes, and the relocation of industrial sites abroad. For more information on the road haulage gap, see the next issue of Commercial Motor.