Freight Management

A complete multi modal service of freight research, planning, traffic engineering and site development for the public and private sectors delivering sustainable freight solutions.

Sustainable Freight

Ensuring efficient movement of goods between production centres, through increasingly sophisticated supply chains from producers to end consumers, offers many challenges. The freight solutions offered by Faber Maunsell offer a quality service to both public and private sectors.

Strategic Freight Transport Planning

In respect of developing regional freight guidance for the planning process and in defining interventions to improve the competitiveness of freight as part of a coherent public sector regeneration strategy, we can help to:

• Develop regional freight transport priorities for both infrastructure and regeneration
• Analyse regional strengths and weaknesses, for both policy guidance and freight operations
• Assess the impact of external legislative and economic influences on freight transport, local, regional, national, European Union and beyond

Local Transport Plan (LTP) Freight Strategies

At a more local level when authorities are considering freight strategies, many find meaningful and useful interventions difficult to identify. Faber Maunsell can help in developing the most appropriate and deliverable agenda for practical progress through the development of an interactive Freight Information Database and unique data collecting techniques providing the cornerstone for progress in implementing:

• Practical opportunities for transfer of freight to rail and water
• HGV driver's route maps
• Designating preferred lorry routes
• Reviews of goods vehicle specific signage
• Appropriate HGV route restriction guidance
• Advice on goods vehicle priority measures
• Audit and strategy for driver and parking facilities
• Management of goods vehicles in urban areas
• Delivery of a project plan with timed, realistic and achievable priorities
• Monitoring outcomes of LTP freight interventions to provide meaningful information on both general freight baseline conditions and the measurement of specific achievements of freight-related LTP actions

Faber Maunsell can also help with other non-LTP specific actions that integrate an LTP Freight Strategy with other authority objectives such as regeneration. These can include:

• Assistance with facilitating training to reduce driver shortages in industry
• Marketing initiatives to promote industry best practice and fuel efficiency
• Demonstrating and marketing best practice in freight transport service procurement and operation

Using our experience and expertise we can then facilitate delivery through an appropriate and deliverable structure of Freight Quality Partnerships. Such partnerships can range from Region wide advice groups to town centre initiatives to individual company/authority agreements and Freight Travel Plans. In all cases we are able to assess the most applicable format for partnerships that can deliver results.

Faber Maunsell offers a range of specialist skills and experience relevant to the delivery of freight solutions. Our Market Research capability extends beyond consumer research into the areas of business-to-business research, and structured freight stakeholder consultation. We offer freight and general traffic forecasting within our Traffic Planning and Engineering capability for the development, calibration and running of traffic forecasting models from a simple spreadsheet based approach, to sophisticated network and/or logit models constructed from values derived from Stated Preference research. These build from inputs related to the overall demand for movement of goods, the physical and performance characteristics of the transport networks, the underlying costs of different options and the buying behaviour of the market in terms of its needs and expectations. Implementation of schemes can be assisted by our traffic engineering staff who have established a reputation for innovation and flair in technically complex areas. Freight specific technical areas include traffic management, managing traffic movement and volume, and the allocation of road space.

Our Intelligent Transport Services capability allows us to design traffic management systems including with-flow and contra flow priority vehicle lanes including HGV or No Car lanes and offer advisory and design services for in-cab and road-side driver information systems. We work closely with our Intelligent Transport Services team to understand the needs of the freight industry for new technology based services, both in cab and roadside, and are working with many clients to develop these.

Delivering the complete service

Delivering sustainable freight solutions entails an integrated and detailed approach.  Faber Maunsell can provide the right mix of transport planning, engineering design and strategic advice. Our ability to combine skills from the overlapping technical and business planning parts of our company results in a unique offer of truly joined up solutions that combine to add real business advantage for our clients.

Our Investment Appraisal capability allows us to apply freight specific skills include financial assessments, economic valuation of travel determinants, and cost-benefit analysis and Micro Simulation through our experience as agents for VISSIM. Through our Development Planning capability we offer a holistic team-working approach to the identification, development and implementation of designs and proposals for sites which are associated with freight movements, and involving all Faber Maunsell's disciplines and expertise.  We can then offer infrastructure and terminal design through our Rail Planning and Engineering capability including the provision of detailed design for road and rail infrastructure to service freight hubs and terminals, both within sites, and their connections to the national networks. This service extends to rail network capacity and capability analysis using skills and experience drawn from a long association with the rail industry that allow us to understand and assess the impacts of new or changed traffic patterns on the rail network. This may range from a high-level outline business case assessment looking at the capability of existing route infrastructure and terminal facilities to absorb new traffics, through to the detailed design associated with gauge clearance of structures needed for international size shipments.

In delivering a complete package we can allow utilise our Infrastructure and Environment capabilities through assessment of the environmental Impacts of freight proposals and Environmental Statements including issues for site developments such as contaminated land, noise and vibration, local air quality and site-specific factors such as ecology and heritage; also issues for freight route enhancement projects involving alternatives, option selection and design issues, include accessibility/ severance, total emissions, noise and vibration, construction activities.

Our experience provides us with the capability to advise planning bodies and financial institutions on the technical robustness of freight schemes that are proposed for development. This may cover many aspects from the assumptions underlying traffic forecasts, through the completeness of statutory consultation to the engineering and environmental design issues associated with buildings and infrastructure.

For more information on our experience and capabilities please contact Jonathan James.