Implementing Off-peak Deliveries in the Greater Toronto Area: Costs, Benefits, Challenges

Nestle Canada currently uses 32 routes that serve over 4,500 customers in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). This study aims to quantify Nestlé’s costs and benefits of modifying their ice cream supply chain to incorporate night-time deliveries, while providing a framework for the regulatory, conceptual, and inertial obstacles to implementation. Employing Nestlé’s customer data set, we created routing software to determine the proportion of customers who must be willing to accept deliveries outside of normal working hours so that the change would be financially feasible. Based upon a literature review we found that, before proceeding, the following qualitative factors should be considered: safety, sustainability, regulatory concerns, truck noise, traffic, and congestion. Reduction of 3–10 percent in the number of routes may result from switching a suitable proportion of deliveries to night-time, achieving the minimum fleet size when 50–60 percent of locations are served on night routes. The operation of both night-time and daytime deliveries would enable an increase in truck utilization, thus decreasing the number of vehicles required. Recommendations for success of night-time deliveries include preparation of a safety plan, procurement of plate trucks, noise-abatement techniques, and the development of a noise-monitoring program.