Current issues in logistics and transport

Several logistics businesses have committed to being ‘net zero’ by 2050 or earlier, joining over 2100 other companies worldwide that have made a similar pledge.  ‘Net zero’ sounds reassuring but what exactly does it mean?  Basically, it means that efforts … Continue reading →

In my forty-two years as an academic researcher in logistics I’ve always tried to study topics of relevance to industry. So much so that colleagues used to refer to me as the professor of lorries, a scholarly Eddie Stobart.  No … Continue reading →

The Financial Times has just revealed an ‘official sensitive’ UK government plan to ‘fast-track’ the return of empty lorries going back to the European mainland via the Dover Straits to collect food for UK supermarkets.  As these vehicles have no … Continue reading →

France has just closed its border to lorries arriving from British ports in response to the new, more infectious strain of Covid19 now sweeping the UK.  Currently around 10,000 lorries a day make the main Dover to Calais crossing.  In … Continue reading →

Today, the 31st October 2019, was to be Brexit Day, the day of Britain’s departure from the EU after 45 years.   In the 3½ months since becoming prime minister Boris Johnson has insisted that Brexit would happen today ‘do or … Continue reading →

It was forty years ago this week that I took up my first academic post, as a lecturer in the geography department at the University of Leicester.  It was a rather inauspicious time to embark on an academic career.   A … Continue reading →

There has been much discussion recently in the UK media about the possible need for Britain to stockpile food in preparation for a ‘no-deal’ Brexit. 30% of the UK’s food is sourced from the EU, 50% more than from the … Continue reading →

In 1948 the newly-founded United Nations decided to set up an organization to regulate international shipping. Although the International Maritime Organization (IMO) was not actually established until 1958, it is celebrating its 70th birthday this year. To mark the event … Continue reading →

During a panel discussion on the decarbonisation of transport at the recent Transport Research Arena conference in Vienna I said something that provoked significant reaction. Basically I argued that if the forecast growth in European freight traffic materialises, we will … Continue reading →

In a newly-published paper I return to a debate I first joined five years ago on the ranking of academic journals. On this issue I basically have three concerns. The first is the use of a journal’s ranking as a … Continue reading →