Between 2021 and 2022, PostNord’s parcel locker volumes grew roughly tenfold. As delivery volumes continue to grow year-on-year no matter where you are in the world, out of home delivery options are being considered more and more by delivery and logistics organizations.
At the same time, fleet electrification is a big topic for sustainability and cost reasons.
These two topics converge in interesting ways, so let’s take a look!
Out of home benefits for delivery companies and customers
Out of home options, like lockers and pickup locations, offer both consumers and delivery orgs more convenience, more choice, and potentially a more optimized experience.
For delivery orgs, it means optimized routes, less stops, and moving higher volumes. For consumers, it means not missing a delivery because they weren’t home, or being able to schedule their pickup around their other plans.
Out of home has inherent benefits in emissions reductions and electric vehicle compatibility
Research from Oslo found that delivering to lockers instead of doors can cut last-mile CO2 by around 30%.
With vehicles driving shorter distances, the emissions on a per parcel level drop. With less complex routes, there’s also a possibility for the actual vehicles doing the delivery to change.
With shorter ranges, electric vehicles or even e-cargo bikes become an option. If locker locations are well mapped across a network, consumers are more likely to walk to the locker locations. Poorly planned networks that required consumers to drive to the locker location will negate the emissions savings.
What’s needed to optimize delivery lockers
For lockers to truly offer an optimized experience for both delivery orgs and consumers, the network needs to hit a certain density. Without enough options, the lockers are out of the way and inconvenient. They become a detour rather than an “already on the way” stop. On the other hand, too many locker locations just re-introduces a high number of stops on the delivery route.
There needs to be a geographic balance of demand and supply for lockers. Everything comes down to location, location, location!
With the right locker network density, electric vehicles excel at delivery optimization
Even though current electric delivery vehicles have long overcome range anxiety and proven themselves capable, shorter runs in metropolitan areas see huge benefits from switching from diesel to EVs.
Idling in traffic is a major contributor to carbon emissions, and this is completely eliminated by EVs. They’re also quieter, more pleasant to drive, and contribute less to congestion when they’re making these in-and-out style trips.
The next frontier is charging optimization
With longer service times at lockers due to the multiple parcels being delivered, there’s opportunities for vehicle charging to be optimized too. For larger locations, having chargers available is an option but not always convenient for drivers to plug into.
Charging technology is quite experimental though, with companies like Elonroad building wireless charging within roads and parking spaces so the driver doesn’t need to plug anything in at all.
Optimize your network with Adiona
Lockers, chargers and electric vehicles are usually discussed as three separate parts. But they come together quite nicely to solve an optimization problem many companies don’t even realise is an opportunity for them.
Our simulation platform, Fleet Simulator, is built for all kinds of scenario modelling, including depot and locker network design, purchasing decisions, fleet electrification, and more. Try it completely free for 14 days with your real data or get in touch with your network challenge and we'll solve it.