Abstract 

Purpose: During the past 5-10 years there has been an increasing interest in urban freight activities due to desire to reduce the environmental impact of freight movements in cities while at the same time maintaining efficiency. One way that has been promoted to achieve this has been the urban consolidation centers. However, some of these initiatives have been argued to be costly and their take up has been limited. The purpose of this research is to contribute to the research on receivers by comparing two organisations that provide procurement services - one in the public sector and one in the private sector. Potential differences exist between public sector and private sector procurement behavior and the research will explore this and consider the possible importance of intermediary organisations that can provide a link between the receivers and the carriers.

Research Approach: The paper adopts an exploratory research approach based on a review of relevant literature about transport purchasing and the purchasing behavior of managers in the public and private sectors. This review is then supported by several in-depth interviews. Following the interviews two case studies have been prepared one concerned with public sector procurement and the other with the private sector. These case studies are summarised in the paper and similarities and differences are considered.

Findings and Originality: Most urban freight research has focused on carriers. However, receivers possess considerable supply chain power and their decisions can strongly influence urban goods deliveries. This research identifies some important features of the role played by organisations which are neither receivers nor carriers but instead play an intermediary role within the urban supply chain.

Research Impact: In particular, the focus of this paper is on the procurement patterns of public and private organizations and potential difference between them. Potential impact of this work would be the contribution to the knowledge about the receivers’ side and their purchasing behavior in relation to the freight generation aspect of urban freight. This study can contribute to the knowledge about consolidation of the goods delivered to the receivers and how the receivers or those organisations working with receivers can trigger it by their procurement practices.

Practical Impact: Practical impact can be the knowledge on the influence of goods consolidation activities via changes in organization procurement practices.