This survey has highlighted a variety of opportunities
within the non-food retail sector for operators to
improve fleet utilisation and energy efficiency.
Vehicle fill was calculated as only 51% of available
weight capacity, 47% of available cube capacity but
a higher 74% of the available deck length capacity.
The use of double and triple deck trailers can offset
this imbalance and increase vehicle fill by weight,
volume and deck length use. 146 double-deck
trailers were included in this survey
Utilisation is reduced further by an inability to fill
all unit loads, e.g. roll cages, efficiently. Few
operators measure this aspect so the size of the
potential saving is unknown.
With 23.2% of last legs (and 8.5% of all legs) being
used for collections from suppliers, there is
considerable scope for improved cooperation and
coordination to improve vehicle utilisation and
reduce fleet mileage.
Significant use is made of return legs to collect
waste from stores, to return empty unit loads and
to collect new merchandise from suppliers.
However, this is often done on an ad hoc basis.