A quote from Paul Davies in a discussion around locations of public parcel lockers in a posting by Mirek Gral: 
“But if you ask the team at Nordic Infrastructure, they will tell you that (parcel lockers in) shopping malls underperform as a location because they are not close enough to people’s homes! This is a data-driven insight – so there is no opinion in it.”

This data is a showstopper for public lockers to me, and there are a couple of conclusions to be drawn from this data.

1.     Trip chaining is not really used. In my opinion it would anyway lead to very long “Time in locker”, if I wait to pick up my parcels until the next time, I will shop at the locker location.
2.     “Close enough to people’s homes” Wouw, what a statement! It is not new, but in that data-based statement lies the obvious conclusion that people really want residential lockers / boxes. You cannot get closer to home than at home. 
3.     Time in locker increases at bad weather if the locker / box is not placed directly at the place of residence. That is another data-based fact. In residential lockers / boxes, the weather doesn’t change anything. 
4.     The current public lockers are basically all non-agnostics. This again leads to another problem of one locker being placed in one direction from my home and the other one in the opposite direction. That is not convenient and will also increase time in locker and often trigger a pick-up by car.
5.     Open, but carrier-controlled lockers. First, it will really change the sustainability claimed by the locker supporters. Instead of having one carrier service the lockers, then 5 or 6 would be driving to the locker. Secondly, a carrier depending on a competitor’s lockers is probably making a bad strategic choice. Thirdly, DHL stated in the last locker update from IPC, that it is unlikely that they would ever open their lockers to other carriers, and I doubt if InPost or other carriers would open their lockers either. It is a logical statement, as it would immediately lower the locker availability for the controlling carrier’s own parcels. 

Using the word showstopper is probably a bit exaggerated. I do believe in a hybrid last mile, where even PUDO’s have their place😀, but to get a sustainable last mile we need to get an infrastructure of perishable food capable residential lockers/boxes established. The environment footprint of residential lockers is at least 50% lower than public lockers and with the last IPCC report in mind, all stakeholders should go for green, i.e., residential lockers / boxes. 

#sustainable #lastmile #parcelboxes #parcellockers #IPCC #UPU