Project overview
The STRAIGHTSOL (Strategies and measures for smarter urban freight solutions) project brought together seven innovative field demonstrations of various freight initiatives from around Europe, using a common evaluation framework to provide transferable results and conclusions.
In the UK, TRG worked with Oxfam, using remote monitoring sensors in textile donation banks to allow more dynamic scheduling of collections. Results suggested that the technology can be used to significantly reduce weekly collection mileage, particularly when servicing remote bank locations. The extent of the savings depends on whether a more flexible shop servicing strategy can also be adopted. Oxfam’s ultimate goal is to maximise profit from donated goods, which involves a trade-off between minimising collection costs and maximising quantity, and quality, of goods collected.
