4 Types of Vehicle Best Suited to Inner-city Delivery Work

When you enter a new city for the first time, it can feel a little like stumbling into a garden maze. The web of alleys, highways and roads can seem like an intoxicating confusion of possibilities for anyone who is used to having a sense of just which paths lead where in their home city.

For those in transportation, coping with this urban maze means choosing the right vehicle at the right time.

The time for bicycles

Bicycles seem ideal for small-scale delivery work as they are nimble. Light and yet surprisingly quick, they can nip down smaller lanes and zigzag past slumbering lines of traffic. But when choosing a bicycle you need to do more than just think of the size of the package. Certain cities are more bike friendly than others. Crossing lights and roads and parks can delay journeys, and you are at risk of inclement weather. All of these considerations need to come into play, but ultimately if you have the right, experienced riders and quality cycles you should consider these vehicles as ideal for tight inner-city routes.

The time for vans

Vans are more often than not the staple vehicle of urban delivery work. There are so many on the road at any given time shifting mail, small goods, fruit and numerous other products and items. They are large enough to carry a significant amount of cargo for multiple clients while still being small enough to navigate smaller streets and find parking spaces. But it is also important to consider the nature of your client list and the number of jobs you have when considering using vans. It is not helpful to have numerous clients waiting for goods too long when these goods rely on prompt movement from the depot to their destination. This is why vans tend to move similar products for similar clients yet build a client base across the city.

The time for motorbikes

The motorbike is much like the bicycle in its compact versatility, but it packs a greater punch for delivery work. The value of bikes, from scooters to sports bikes, is that they have a great deal of speed that makes up for the inability to carry too much cargo. This makes them ideal for jobs that come up last minute, so the driver can wait at the depot and rush off to a destination, navigating the inner-city traffic at any hour, and return promptly enough to make sure there is still time for plenty more jobs.

The time for cars

People are seeing more and more cars being used for delivery work; they save fuel and have a reduced ecological footprint when compared to vans, yet are able to carry larger cargo more securely than cycles or bikes. This makes them perfect for transporting delicate cargo, such as medical equipment, and allows the driver to maintain a fairly relaxed disposition.

Norman Dulwich is a Correspondent for Haulage Exchange, the leading online trade network for the road transport industry across the UK and Europe. It provides services for matching delivery work and to buy and sell road transport and haulage work in the domestic and international markets. Over 3,000 transport exchange businesses are networked together through their website, trading jobs and capacity in a safe 'wholesale' environment.

Writer and Online Marketing Manager in London.