Transportation Troubleshooting: E-Commerce: With Its Benefits Come Challenges for Transportation Infrastructure

As Americans order more products online for delivery to their homes or other locations, e-commerce has changed not just our shopping habits but also the structure of retail industries, labor markets and the fabric of commercial districts in our towns and cities.

Yet a lesser-known set of challenges brought by e-commerce deserves more attention from transportation agencies and planners: the impacts on road networks and communities from e-commerce supply chains and freight logistics.

Large-Scale Operations

Every retailer, from small convenience stores to big-box retailers, relies on warehouses and distribution centers to store large quantities of products for delivery as needed. However, e-commerce businesses require massive distribution centers (DCs) capable of storing more inventory—both broader sets of stock-keeping units and supplies that a brick-and-mortar store would keep on its shelves.

E-commerce businesses also generate more traffic by shipping directly to consumers using vans and trucks. And while warehouse automation is increasing, e-commerce DCs are still labor intensive, with workers packing items for individual customers; hence, these centers require significant parking areas and can cause increases in local commuter traffic.

I’m not bashing e-commerce or hankering for a return to the “good old days” before I could buy printer ink for next-day home delivery. Instead, I’m advocating for more focus in the transportation and planning field on how e-commerce impacts road networks and communities as well as what policies and investments can best manage the challenges of e-commerce growth.

Case Study in Collaboration

Because inbound and outbound shipping crosses many jurisdictions, there must be significant collaboration engaging multiple authorities such as towns, cities, counties and states. Of course, that’s not uncommon when managing transportation infrastructure—but it’s not always easy. That’s why I’m pleased to be able to share a terrific example that my colleagues at WSP in the U.S. have worked on: the 2024 Eastern Pennsylvania Freight Infrastructure Plan.

Funded by the U.S. Department of Transportation and Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, the plan was led by public entities that joined together as the Eastern Pennsylvania Freight Alliance (EPFA). They include metropolitan planning organizations from Lehigh Valley; the Reading area; Lackawanna, Luzerne and Lebanon counties; and the Northeastern Pennsylvania Alliance, an economic development group representing these and other communities.

“Recently, this region has exploded as the distribution hub for the entire Northeast because it provides one-day access to 40 percent of the U.S. population and is close to the Port of New York and New Jersey,” notes Joe Bryan, who heads WSP’s Freight and Logistics Advisory Service in the United States and chairs a supply chain subcommittee for the Transportation Research Board. While the economic development from distribution networks is welcome in a region whose traditional manufacturing industries declined several decades ago, the communities—especially road networks—are stressed by the increased traffic.

Studying the Trend

E-commerce exploded during the early quarters of the pandemic, and it continues to grow. Because e-commerce requires three times the warehousing space as conventional retail and places a premium on fast delivery, a multi-stage distribution model emerged, combining delivery facilities close to consumers with large DCs feeding them from further back in the chain. This model favors distribution hubs in areas with ample property, yet adjacent to major population centers such as the Northeast. This is a national trend that has impacted Eastern Pennsylvania strongly. “And this region will continue to be an attractive destination for the goods-movement industry,” according to Bryan.

The alliance partners set out an ambitious scope for their report, looking at transport infrastructure from roads to rest areas; road usage and activity, including traffic bottlenecks and the shortage of truck parking spaces; and land-use impacts of freight and logistics businesses.

Through stakeholder outreach and engagement that included a survey with 4,204 respondents, the alliance identified local concerns and tallied the top four most-important impacts that residents associate with freight regionwide: environmental impacts such as air quality and noise; land-use issues such as loss of farmland and tightening real estate market; vehicle and pedestrian safety; and congestion, delays and other traffic-operations issues.

An Integrated Network

As expected, regional action to mitigate impacts and plan for better integration of DCs and shipping with community priorities will depend on motivated local stakeholders and dedicated public officials. The report authors recommend formalizing the EPFA with a memorandum of understanding and regular meetings to prioritize investments, track project progress, and coordinate state and federal funding requests.

“To shape the direction of e-commerce and other shipping-intensive industries, you need a broad collaboration that thinks of the regional road systems as an integrated network, not a set of limited responsibilities ending at their jurisdictional boundary,” explains Bryan.

I’ll second that and add that I’m looking forward to seeing what emerges from the Regional Warehousing Land-Use Traffic Study for the Capitol Region Council of Governments in Greater Hartford, Conn., which Bryan and his team started work on this year.