Decongestion tops  CILT agenda

The Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport’s new president, Jim Steer, has stated decongesting city centres is key to economic growth and that the sector must collaborate more and look into new techniques to reduce traffic.

The director and founder of Steer Davies Gleave was speaking to ITN Productions’ Transport News Channel ahead of the Institute’s annual conference and dinner, where the logistics revolution was high on the agenda.

“Congestion is the enemy of us all,” he said. “We need to work together as transport professionals to show what transport as a whole can do.”

Steer said he believed reducing congestion will not just make city centres a more pleasant place to be, but also has the potential to drive “economic and social prosperity”.

Graham Inglis, former president of CILT and chief executive of DHL Supply Chain Europe, was part of the same discussion. “The current environment requires much more collaboration and innovation,” he said. “At DHL, we already use our network on a shared basis for the good of customers, but clearly we can do more. And whether it’s night-time deliveries or consolidation centres, using new techniques is important.”