Consortium Members

The Institute for Transport Studies (ITS), University of Leeds

ITS is a leading academic transport research institute accorded the highest possible scores in the last 3 Research Assessment Exercises and with a reputation for high quality multi-disciplinary research funded by UK Research Councils, government, the EU and others. It has successful experience of leading large projects, including several EU projects. ITS has recently participated in the Cardiff University led ITeLS project. As part of its research for the Rail Research UK (RRUK) consortium, ITS has continued to develop its own series of strategic level freight forecasting models (the LEFT models). These enable investigation of the effects of policy options relevant to the present work. ITS also contributed to the development of MDS Transmodal`s Great Britain Freight Model (GBFM), a mode choice model with detailed geography, which forms part of the DfT`s national model suite, and has used this model on a number of projects. ITS has a good understanding of the issues influencing freight mode choice, as a result of its work on the EU Strategic European Multimodal Modelling (STEMM) project and on a range of other projects where it has surveyed freight users and operators. ITS also played a leading role in the 2002 Review of Freight Modelling, for DfT, the Strategic Rail Authority, the Highways Agency and Transport for London. ITS therefore contributes particular strengths in freight transport economics and freight modelling and forecasting to the consortium.

Cardiff University, Logistics & Operations Management and Computer Science

The Logistics and Operations Management Section of Cardiff Business School is supported by Computer Science, yielding a multi-disciplinary team of operations researchers, economists, engineers, geographers and management experts. Both departments were rated 5 at the last RAE. Cardiff University has an excellent track record in logistics and supply chain research. It has undertaken a number of EPSRC and DfT funded research projects under the EPSRC Innovative Manufacture Programme in land transport and other sectors, the EPSRC Future Integrated Transport (FIT) programme and DfT Freight Transport Research, resulting in over £6M worth of EPSRC grants over the last 10 years. Most notable is the recently completed FIT project, "Integrating transport and e-commerce in logistics supply chains (ITeLS)", undertaken in collaboration with Leeds and Ulster universities. ITeLS was strongly supported by industrial partners including Tesco, Caparo, Multiserv, Rees Davies, Princes, Campbell Freight, the Road Haulage Association and the Freight Transport Association. Novel logistics key performance indicators (KPI), such as Overall Vehicle Effectiveness, were developed. The impacts of new supply chain control protocols, such as Vendor Managed Inventory, on transport were ascertained. Cardiff`s vast experience of leading edge supply chain management techniques and the relationships between supply chain management and freight transport management is of great benefit to the work of the consortium.

Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, Logistics Research Centre (LRC)

The LRC at Heriot-Watt University has undertaken research on many different aspects of sustainable distribution for UK government departments and agencies, research councils, the European Commission, trade associations, and local authorities. Most of this work has focused on six themes: the relationship between logistics trends, freight transport and the environment; sustainable distribution measures such as increasing vehicle weights and dimensions and improving fuel efficiency; performance measurement and benchmarking in the road freight sector; regulation and taxation of freight transport; the use of IT, telematics and e-commerce to rationalise road freight operations; modal shift from road to coastal ferry services. The LRC has played a leading role in the UK government`s Transport KPI programme. In close consultation with industry, it developed the KPI methodology and organised two large transport benchmarking surveys. It also undertook the cost benefit analysis used to justify the UK government`s decision to increase maximum lorry weight in 2001. The LRC has wide experience of survey-based research, computer modelling and case-study analysis and has disseminated the results of its research widely both in the UK and abroad. The LRC`s research has exploited its close links with freight and logistics specialists around the world and has collaborated with many other European research centres specialising in sustainable distribution. The LRC has successfully collaborated with other consortium members on relevant projects; for example with staff at the Transport Studies Group at University of Westminster on a DEFRA-funded investigation of the `food miles` issue.

Lancaster University, Department of Management Science

The Department of Management Science is part of Lancaster University Management School (LUMS), which was awarded 5* rating in the 1996 and 2001 Research Assessment Exercises and also has full EQUIS accreditation for meeting the international standards of excellence established by the European Foundation for Management Development. The Department of Management Science has around 19 fulltime academic staff plus research assistants and at least 30 PhD students. Research is supported by both Research Councils and industry over a wide range of topics. In the field of supply chain and logistics management, Professor Richard Eglese has developed considerable expertise in optimization problems and has particularly addressed vehicle routing and scheduling problems. Research has been funded by Lancashire County Council and Cumbria County Council for the development of heuristic methods for road sweeping and winter gritting applications. Software has been developed for depot location as well as for vehicle routing. More recently, heuristic algorithms have been developed for vehicle routing and scheduling applied to supermarket deliveries and other similar distribution problems funded by Safeway and ITIS Holdings. In co-operation with Aarhus School of Business, Denmark, recent research has been carried out into exact optimisation methods for capacitated vehicle routing problems. Vehicle routing and scheduling systems for improved sustainability are being developed by Lancaster in this project.

University of Southampton, Transportation Research Group (TRG)

TRG is a multi-disciplinary group within the School of Civil Engineering and the Environment, University of Southampton. TRG has expanded considerably in recent years, with a total current staff of 27 and a current contract value approaching £3M. The principal sponsoring bodies for the research have been the European Commission (EC), the Department for Transport (DfT), Transport Research Laboratory (TRL), EPSRC and Transport for London (TfL). Previously focused on traffic engineering, areas of study at TRG have now widened. TRG now has substantial expertise on the use of Intelligent Transport Systems in traffic and transport, for example. TRG research on freight transport and logistics management focuses particularly on reverse logistics. Research currently funded by the DfT is examining the potential benefits of optimising local authority waste collection vehicles across local authority boundaries. TRG is undertaking a two year study into the transport impacts associated with Household Waste Recycling Centres as part of the Sustainable Urban Environments (SUE) programme. In addition, part of the MIRACLES project is developing alternative distribution scenarios involving local collect points to reduce the incidence of failed home deliveries.

University of Westminster, Transport Studies Group (TSG)

TSG`s research in freight transport, distribution and logistics began in 1978 and has developed into one of the group`s major interests. Much of the research carried out in recent years has been concerned with sustainability issues where TSG has developed a specialism at the urban scale. Two EPSRC-funded projects into the collection and analysis of urban freight transport data have taken place in recent years. TSG is currently working for Southwark and Lewisham boroughs to help enhance their work into the sustainability of local urban distribution, especially with respect to light goods vehicle activity. TSG is a project partner in both the BESTUFS (Best Urban Freight Solutions - 2000-2003) and BESTUFS II (2004-2007) EU-funded thematic networks. TSG is also working on a scoping study, funded by DfT to identify the potential for urban freight consolidation centres. The TSG is also a partner, with INRETS, in the current COST Action 355: Changing behaviour towards a more sustainable transport system which is considering freight sustainability at all geographical scales. In 2003 TSG completed a project for the Transport Energy Best Practice Programme (TEBPP) entitled "Key Performance Indicators for Home Delivery". Recent research has examined the potential contribution of non-road modes to sustainability. A project funded by the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (UK) into this topic was completed in 2004. TSG will benefit the consortium through their expertise in distribution, particularly at the urban scale, and in freight transport mode choice.