Planning deliveries from end to beginning: an assessment methodology proposal for big cities in developing countries, with real case application

Abstract

This paper on delivery planning in large cities in developing countries is from the proceedings of 14th International Conference on Urban Transport and the Environment in the 21st Century, which was held in Malta in 2008. The authors stress that delivering cargo in big cities in developing countries is more difficult than in developed countries, primarily because the infrastructure and traffic conditions are worse. They present a case study using the DHL Exel Supply Chain in Sao Paolo, Brazil, then outline a methodology for choosing the best mode of cargo delivery in the urban area of populous cities in developing countries. The authors hypothesize that the best technical option may be to use smaller and lighter vehicles in order to reduce the traffic impact, have more agility, use more environmentally-friendly cleaner fuel, and to achieve easier access to central areas inside commercial centers. However, delivering cargo with a lot of small trucks can be much more expensive than full truck loads using bigger vehicles. The methodology can be used to create a process to choose between the conventional method that favors the agility, short storage and small trucks and the use of cargo consolidation, fewer stops, and larger trucks.