Daily life in urban areas has seen a significant increase in freight requirements, resulting in thegrowing use of light transport vehicles (>3.5 tonnes). The efficient movement of urban freight isa challenge for transportation systems since, in addition to environmental considerations, freightmovements affect national, regional and local economies in such a way that planning forefficiency is more critical than ever for all parties involved. However, this study focuses on smalland medium-sized freight carriers, as they represent between 70 and 90% of companies in OECD(Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries. These companiestransport their goods in light vans, with hardly any fleet management patterns to make their workmore efficient. GPS technology is used by most urban distribution companies to track shipments,but this technology can be also used to achieve greater efficiency. This paper aims to provide asimple fleet management tool for small and medium-sized companies. To that effect, efficiencyindicators have been defined based on GPS data with regard to the time and distance required fordeliveries. This methodology has proved to be sensitive to the relationship between the numberof deliveries and the average time stopped and the average distance between stops. So, through acomparative analysis of two companies (a courier and a food distributor), it is possible todetermine which is more efficient and to outline time and distance parameters directly related tothe number of daily deliveries that can enable them to improve productivity.
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