Author manuscript, published in "12th World Conference on Transport Research, Lisbonne : Portugal (2010)'
How is own account transport well adapted to urban environments?
CRUZ, Cecilia
HOW IS OWN ACCOUNT TRANSPORT
WELL ADAPTED TO URBAN
ENVIRONMENTS?
CRUZ, Cecilia, University of Cergy-Pontoise, MRTE (Mobility, Networks, Transports,
Environment) & Paris-Est University, INRETS (The French National Institute for
Transport and Safety Research), SPLOTT (Production Systems, Logistics, transport
Organisation and Work). 2 rue de la Butte Verte, 93166 Noisy-Le-Grand Cedex,
France. Mail: [email protected]
hal-00615151, version 1 - 18 Aug 2011
ABSTRACT
Own account transport is commercially invisible but its importance in urban freight is
significant: it represents half of deliveries. Generally research efforts focus mainly on third-
party transportation because data is more available in spite of a lack of urban data.
Nevertheless, the organization of transport by a shipper is not the same than third-party
transport. The products transported, the constraints, the demand of transport are different.
This analysis shows that own account transport is well-adapted to urban areas because of
the density of deliveries and an increase of the number of establishments of the shipper who
extends its areas of customer and makes profitable its fleet.
Keywords: urban freight, own account transport, density of deliveries, time delivery
1. INTRODUCTION
It is difficult to define the extent of cities. In France, urban areas are referred to as 'urban
units' (unité urbaine),1 when they meet certain morphological criteria (the continuity of the
built environment) and surpass a population threshold of 2000 inhabitants. This same
threshold is often used in international comparisons (Moriconi-Ebrard, 1994). This definition
of cities was established by the INSEE2 in 1954, but as suburbanisation progressed
additional definitions were created. In 1997, the INSEE created a new kind of zone called the
'urban area' (aire urbaine) which is composed of an urban hub and a suburban ring (Fig. 1).
This second definition of cities, which is the one used in this article, allows for a more
functional vision of urban space because it takes employment into account. Through the
1 According to the INSEE (French National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies), more informations :
www.insee.fr
2 French National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies
12th WCTR, July 11-15, 2010 - Lisbon, Portugal