Nighttime truck deliveries studied in New York City, Pensacola

The Federal Highway Administration will provide $200,000 in grants to fund pilot projects to encourage the movement of trucked inner-city freight deliveries from the day to the night.    The U.S. Transportation Department’s Federal Highway Administration will provide $200,000 in grants to fund pilot projects in New York City’s boroughs and Pensacola, Fla., to work with large retailers and food companies to research and test the off-hour delivery of goods. 
   The grants are provided through FHWA’s Surface Transportation Research, Development and Deployment Program. 
   “I’ve talked to people around the country and they have told me they are tired of spending hours stuck in traffic – they want their transportation problems solved,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx in a statement.
   FHWA said the pilots will consider how truck deliveries made outside of peak and rush hours can save time and money for freight carriers, improve air quality and “create more sustainable and livable cities.” The funding will be used to help companies find ways to adjust their operations to accommodate shipments during off-hours and distributors reconfigure routes and supply chains to facilitate nighttime deliveries.
   “The problem of daytime truck traffic is well-known to any major city in the United States, and it’s time for new solutions,” Federal Highway Administrator Gregory Nadeau said. “While aggravating local traffic, trucks too have been forced to crawl through city streets – causing businesses loses in time, money and productivity.”
   Troy, N.Y.-based Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute will receive a $100,000 grant from FHWA to work with large national and regional retailers and food companies, already operating in New York City, to study this approach in the city’s other boroughs and Long Island, and eventually nationwide. This project builds on an earlier pilot project in the city that was also funded through a similar DOT grant. 
   In addition, the Florida Department of Transportation will also receive a $100,000 grant to partner with the Sacred Heart Health System to study off-hour freight deliveries at its medical campus in Pensacola, which includes the expanding children’s hospital and adult care center. “The grant will help the hospital and FDOT investigate the cost-benefit of off-hour deliveries, including materials for campus operations and hospital supplies, in light of the additional traffic expected from the growing facility,” FHWA said.