This document contains a report on a study of the impact of time windows and vehicle restrictions on distribution costs in Dutch cities. The study started at the initiative of the Central Bureau of Provision Trade (CBL) and was conducted and financed by the TNO Inro. The study was carried out using no more than public information and contains no statements regarding specific chains of shops or supermarkets. The effect of current municipal policy was analyzed on the basis of the distribution costs incurred by over 5,000 shops and sales outlets in nine different sectors of the Dutch retail trade. The analysis revealed that 28% of the distribution costs incurred by the Dutch retail trade results from having to comply with time windows and vehicle restrictions that are in place in 53% of Dutch municipalities. When translated into annual costs, this means that it costs supermarket chains an annual amount of EUR 100 million in order to comply with current time windows and vehicle restrictions, and the retail trade as a whole some EUR 425 million. The cities hardly ever coordinate these measures which are necessary to guarantee the quality of life and safety in the city and cause a wealth of unnecessary problems. This paper does not doubt the usefulness and the need for imposing time windows and guaranteeing the quality of life in the city, but the study was intended to get an idea of the costs that these measures generate. Next to the time windows and vehicle restrictions an alternative urban distribution is discussed in the paper : the citybox. (Author/publisher)
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