To learn more about this new campus initiative, I conversed with Robbie Jacob, the Associate Director of Logistics here at UC San Diego.
Can you briefly describe Logistics 2.0 and how it works?
The Logistics 2.0 project revolves around aligning the logistics operations for UC San Diego to the LRDP (Long Range Development Plan) published by UC San Diego. Supporting campus growth, the need to remove vehicles from campus, therefore congestion and provide a better delivery service to support world class education and research.
How is this a more sustainable alternative to the prior delivery system?
The Logistics 2.0 initiative has 5 pillars, one of which is a Carbon Neutral last mile. The UC President, Janet Nipalitano, set the course for schools to be carbon neutral by 2025. We are doing our part by transitioning our last mile delivery method to be 100% carbon neutral over the next few years. Over the past 8 months we have tested a few electric vehicles to deliver items to campus customers and the plan is to transition 2 vehicles per year over the next few years to be electric delivery vehicles. This removes over 180 tons of carbon for last mile delivery to campus. We are also going to be utilizing electric bicycles to deliver to non-vehicle access areas once some construction projects on campus are complete.
With the help of RMP, our facility is a living laboratory for UC San Diego with solar panels on the roof, a battery storage facility on site and electric chargers at our facility we are set up to be the first in higher education to provide a 100% carbon neutral last mile delivery to support campus. Our goal is not only to be sustainable, but by aligning with the LRDP we can help campus envision the future state without the congestion of delivery vehicles impacting campus employees and visitors.
What was the inspiration for this initiative?
Over 30 years ago, leadership of UC San Diego decided that a central receiving operation was imperative in supporting campus needs. Now, more than ever, it is critical to have an operation where delivering to a central location and allowing us to consolidate with our resources can remove over 7,000 truck trips a year on our campus. UC San Diego is transitioning to a walking campus, and the question is how do you deliver to locations where vehicles are not allowed. UPS / Fed Ex do not want to spend their time walking across 15 acres of non-vehicle access to deliver items. We are evolving the Logistics operation to support this transition.
What are some of the challenges in trying to become more sustainable on campus?
We are lucky that we are a living laboratory and have some infrastructure in place to pursue this. That being said, there are more enhancements needed at our facility to support 100% carbon neutral last mile delivery. Electric delivery vehicles are new to the market and are first iterations of future products so testing vehicles and implementing the technology is a challenge.
Are there any other sustainability related projects that you are currently working on?
Eventually we would like our Logistics operation to be an asset for campus on the disposition of packing material (boxes and air bags). We are working to build into Logistics 2.0 a way that we can support RMP or campus initiatives around removing cardboard and packaging materials from campus. This would include us “backhauling” materials from campus to our facility to be recycled.
