Shifting urban freight deliveries to the off-peak hours: a review of theory and practice

This paper presents a comprehensive review of the literature on off-peak hour deliveries (OPHD). The review identifies different approaches and policy levers used in the past, such as the laissez-faire approach, a road pricing approach, an incentives approach, and a regulatory approach. The paper also identifies different delivery reception schemes discussed in the literature. The authors complement the theory with a synthesis of pilot tests and the analysis of a set of interviews with practitioners (from the public sector and other organisations) in charge of OPHD programmes. The results from this review show the potential benefits that these programmes could bring about, the challenges faced in the early stages – along with potential solutions – and the significant progress that has been made in this domain in the last decade. According to the review, the results from the pilot tests tend to be positive, suggesting the importance of these programmes to reach more efficient and sustainable transportation systems.