The Purchasing Behavior of Public Organizations and its Impact on City Logistics

This paper presents three studies on public procurement and its impact on city logistics. The studies aimed to give an insight into the transport volume related to the delivery of products and services - at a university in Newcastle, two academic institutions in Amsterdam, and the municipality of Rotterdam. Furthermore, the role of the public organisations as large receivers and promoters of sustainable transport is discussed. The paper concludes that public organisations play a key role in the organisation and extent of city logistics planning, albeit they may not be making beneficial use of their impact. Key barriers are the lack of standardised logistics information in procurement information systems, and incentives that promote sustainable and efficient delivery among purchasers.