Heathrow delivery inefficiencies

London Heathrow seek forwarder assistance for a solution to the delivery inefficiencies and congestion that continue to plague the cargo village at London Heathrow, colloquially know as the ‘Horseshoe’.

Heathrow has been seeking ways to improve load factors on vehicles travelling to and from the Cargo Centre for many years, including the launch of a dedicated app, part of Heathrow CargoCloud in 2017.

Despite the app and other recent initiatives research has concluded that 69% of vehicles delivering cargo to the Horseshoe had a declared load factor of 50% or less and 51% of vehicles arriving to collect cargo were empty.

The airport has acknowledged that. “Operating a cleaner, leaner and more efficient freight operation is an essential part of delivering on our ambition to be the best airport in Europe for cargo.”

Metro make extensive use of Birmingham and other regional hubs, to redirect urgent freight, to protect our air freight customers from the worst LHR congestion.

“For our cargo partners it allows them to reduce their costs, our local communities will experience less congestion and improved air quality, and Heathrow will build on its strength as an airport of choice for cargo.”

The sharing or sale of load capacity on vehicles travelling to/from the Cargo Centre will have a role to play in eradicating congestion and improving air quality, and Heathrow is committed to working closely with the cargo community to develop a tech-led solution/proposition that best serves the community with aims of:

– Improving waiting times at the airport through easing congestion
– Saving costs for operators by only paying for the space they use

To move onto the next phase Heathrow are working with the industry’s trade association, BIFA, to develop a solution and run trials during January and February 2020.

Heathrow by Mike McBey is licensed under CC