Is this the future for city centre courier delivery?

Making deliveries in our increasingly busy and populated city is a challenge, with courier vehicles dealing with congestion and limited parking and bikes only able to carry small loads.

This week, a new courier company with e-cargo tricycles able to carry up to 200kg worth of packages makes its first deliveries, bridging the gap between agile courier bikes and the comparatively large, slow – and pollution-creating - cars and vans.

On a Mission is a startup working in partnership with traditional courier companies and big online retailers to complete the final stage of deliveries within the city.

Owner Luke Davids says the traditional delivery model isn’t efficient for a city environment. “You see so many delivery trucks in the city, and often they’re all delivering to the same addresses. Using these bikes,our consolidation points and routing technology, we can sweep up a whole lot of deliveries and deliver them more efficiently”.

Luke has plans to add e-scooter ‘runners’ to his fleet and they also have an e-van to take deliveries further afield from time to time.

As the city continues to grow, we support the need for innovation when it comes to getting deliveries and other services around the city. We're working with Auckland Transport to explore how servicing and deliveries can be improved for the city centre and businesses. This will include working with city-based businesses and property owners in this process to ensure the best outcomes for the city.

Taking inspiration from further afield, Sydney has seen some great results with a courier hub trial – with estimates that it could reduce congestion by saving 26,000 kilometres of van travel and 4,600 hours of loading zone usage in the CBD.

Luke thinks there’s lots of room for change. “We’re pleased to be pioneering this way of delivering in New Zealand and hope to see much more of it evolve. It’s positive for both courier efficiency and the environment.”