Optimisation of loading dock capacity in new buildings: A tool

The Evaluating loading dock capacity in new developments project aimed to ensure that robust models were applied to properly determine the best design and capacity of new loading docks. That project has now been completed, and a final report is available for download below.

Background

Participants on the project with iMOVE were Transport for NSW and the University of Melbourne. The work was completed in mid-2021.

Access to adequate loading docks for freight and servicing operators is important to the urban design principles being pursued in Australia’s cities. With a greater focus on placemaking in urban centres, the provision of adequate loading docks can make a significant contribution to traffic management while also enabling provision of the goods and services that successful places generate.

To ensure that freight and service (F&S) vehicles have access, parking space must be provided either on-street or off-street. There is competition for this space from a number of players such as taxis, private transport, cycling, and adaption of street space for pedestrians.

With insufficient loading facilities for buildings, ever-increasing population density and objectives to adapt streetscapes away from motor vehicle use face significant challenges.

Despite the importance of adequate loading docks, agreement and provision of capacity during building Development Approval processes is often a matter for contention between planning authorities and developers.

Time limits, pricing techniques, land use, space management and parking compliance are the major types of freight and service vehicle parking policies used to manage loading docks – but their effectiveness is hampered if insufficient capacity is allocated during the Development Approval process.

Current standards and their issues

Within major urban centres, the provision of loading dock capacity is regularly a cause for contention between planning authorities and development proponents. A building with inadequate loading dock facilities is reliant on adjacent kerbside space, which generates broader negative consequences.

Currently, the standard method to determine loading dock size/capacity in NSW relies on approval authorities either having stated quantities and formulas within their Development Control Plans (DCPs) or requiring a developer to refer to the RTA’s loading and servicing advice.

Property developers often complain that the parking rates in planning regulations are too high, while local authorities argue that property developers fight to minimise the number of spaces without taking into consideration the operational practices of F&S vehicles.

This problematic decision-making process often compels local authorities to reject the initial number of loading spaces in most building approval applications. Hence, the planning process goes through multiple rounds of negotiations and the final loading dock design is a compromise which is not based on a sound and representative approach that reflects the actual use of loading docks and operational practices of F&S vehicles.

Objectives

This project sought to provide an improved and reliable methodology for forecasting demand when establishing loading dock requirements in new developments.

One aim was to make a method accessible for use by stakeholders to assess a new development’s loading dock requirements in cities across Australia. A user interface to this model is being pursued as a separate project.

Aims included:

• Identifying a process to make sure the model approach is mathematically robust and ensure the validity of outputs
• Identifying a process to enable the easy addition of new data sets

Robust models will inspire confidence in stakeholders, and also provide them with greater understanding of freight activity servicing a building.

Modelling

The study developed a model based on survey data from 17 buildings of mixed land use, sizes and locations. Data collected included:

• Characterisation of F&S vehicle movements into the building
• Distribution of vehicle profiles and parking durations per land use type
• Frequency of vehicles arriving throughout the day
• Assessment of vehicle class and purpose
• Distribution of parking time by the hour of the day

Based on the coefficients developed in regression analysis, the optimisation algorithm searches over various combinations of small, medium and large spaces to find the optimal solution that meets a certain threshold of parking demand.

Whereas previous methods from government would simply state a number of loading dock spaces required, the developed modelling provides in depth explanation of the buildings expected freight task across the day, the types and purpose of the vehicles arriving at the site, how expect duration of their stay and hence the different sizes of spaces require to support the building.

The decision support environment enables planners to run what-if scenarios and assess the service level impact of different configurations of loading dock provision.

Dashboard

The output of the model is presented in two interactive templates: an ‘Optimisation Solver’ that determines the recommended dock configuration, and a ‘Dashboard’ which displays valuable insights about the parking demand, vehicle movements and utilisation of the loading dock.

The Dashboard calculates various metrics for a given parking configuration by determining hourly vehicle arrivals and parking demand, efficacy of the recommended dock configuration, capacity utilisation of the recommended dock configuration and average parking duration.

It is an interactive, shareable, and transferable template that various stakeholders can use to input the parameters for different locations to generate the results and outputs. The overall model development approach ensures a mathematically robust process to ensure the outputs’ validity based on the observed datasets.

Merits and usability of the model

The model has several applications and provides various stakeholders including transport authorities, city planners and property developers, with a user-friendly tool to assess the requirements in advance during the planning and approval process of new developments.

It offers a robust and valid decision-making tool that generates reliable estimates of vehicle movements and parking demand for an optimal provision of loading docks, which consequently makes stakeholders better-informed and leads to a greater confidence in the outcomes of the building application process.

Model applications include space proofing, supporting planning applications, enhancing the overall logistics delivery and service operations of the development, and streamlining the traffic flows in and around the development, making the development more attractive to the future tenants and end-users.

These findings allow the development of a booking management system for F&S vehicle trips. The vehicles can book an arrival slot and parking space based on hours of operations, available parking bay supply and dwell time requirements.

Metrics of success

• The provision of the model provides greater understanding of modern freight and servicing traffic to planners, developers and consultants.
• It is presented in a way that accelerates planning and assessment. An assessment can literally be produced in minutes rather than something that could otherwise take weeks, a factor that could deter the assessment from being undertaken.
• Accurate loading dock provision is beneficial for
  • developers of buildings to provide the right capacity
  • efficiency for business and freight and servicing operators
  • Planning Authorities and Placemakers to move vehicles from the street and into loading docks.
• By provision of the tool to Planning Authorities and developments/consultants there is a common platform for them to agree on how to easily proceed. If the model is trusted and endorsed by the Planning Authorities and similarly trusted and easily utilized by consultants, then it is easy for compliant developments to be agreed upon.
• Finally, by sharing the knowledge via the tool to external parties, Planning experts are required to spend less time review and challenge proposals; something that used to be very time consuming!

Conclusion and outlook

The developed capability provides in depth insights into a development’s loading dock requirements. These insights can assist with planning an optimal loading dock configuration that keeps a balance between the amount of space required and fulfilling the freight and service vehicle demand optimally.

As a result, it eliminates issues around long queuing times, a large share of vehicles parking illegally and road safety concerns when the drivers load and unload goods on the street.

Transport for NSW and the University of Melbourne have completed the Optimisation of loading docks in new buildings project and released a white paper that describes the development of an Enhanced Decision Support Tool to calculate the freight task and the required provision of on-site loading docks in new buildings.

These insights also provide an ability to develop a booking management system to schedule freight and service vehicle trips.

Want to use the tool?

The tool is available for use now, with more information available at: Urban Freight Forecasting Model | Transport for NSW

For access to the tool, please click here to email your request

Download the final report

Download your copy of the final report, Enhanced Decision Support Tool for the provision of on-site loading docks in new buildings, by clicking the button below.

For more discussion of this project, see also our recording of the Progress toward more efficient supply chains webinar.

DOWNLOAD THE REPORT