How is own account transport well adapted to urban environments?
CRUZ, Cecilia
distinction between urban hub and the suburban ring, it is possible to consider conditions
specific to the density of areas without ignoring less dense zones in the urban periphery,
which may be home to industries with strong connections to the rest of the urban area. The
polycentric dimension of cities is also better accounted for.
Figure 1: Two ways to define the extent of cities: the urban unit and the urban area
hal-00615151, version 1 - 18 Aug 2011
The urban environment is characterized by a concentration of production and consumption.
As Ogden (1992) said, the freight is “complex and heterogeneous” and means that “there is a
multitude of „actors’ in the urban freight scene, and therefore a multitude of perceptions of the
„problem’.” This space is regularly the subject of tensions, from both an urban planning
perspective and that of human and freight traffic. Urban freight transport, which can be
defined as all movement of goods within an urban environment, is often considered to be a
nuisance because of the predominance of road-based modes. It is nonetheless necessary
for the city to function.
There are two basic ways to organize freight transport: a shipper may organize and carry out
transport using its own means, which is referred to as own-account (OA) transport; otherwise
it uses an external transport service provider, which is called third-party (3P) transport. Own-
account transport is rarely studied, and literature on the subject is limited. In 1992, Ogden
published a book on urban freight but own account transport is not analyzed in details. The
lack of information is probably due to the difficulty of identifying and contacting own-account
shippers. These firms see freight transport as an essential, strategic aspect of their work,3
and as such they are often hesitant to reveal details.
The studies on own-account freight transport that do exist tend not to mention the fact that
this kind of organisation is quite urban. However, its presence in the city is far from
negligible: in France, the Transport and Goods in Cities surveys4 have shown that the
majority of urban delivery and pick-up operations are done on an own-account basis (Patier,
3 21% of small businesses (less than 19 employees on the scope of ECHO survey 2004) have their own fleet
(Source: ECHO survey)
4 "Enquêtes Transports de Marchandises en Ville" carried out in Bordeaux in 1994 and in Dijon and Marseilles in
1997 by the Transport Economy Laboratory (LET).
12th WCTR, July 11-15, 2010 - Lisbon, Portugal
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