Originally Posted by
CrankyOne
In Europe it's common for there to be warehouses outside of cities. The long haul trucks deliver to the warehouses and then local delivery companies take it from there. Long haul drivers don't have to deal with traffic and tight streets (and getting lost?) within metro areas and the local deliver companies can batch stuff based on location which reduces the wheelage weight on the streets. There's less wear & tear expense for the streets and life is more pleasant since there are fewer and smaller trucks.
This is how it is with our more established inner city trucking firms, with larger semis dropping off their cargo at a main depot, and having smaller single axle tractor/trailers haul the cargo to it's final destination. There still is the case of larger chain stores trying to maximize their loads, and sending their full size tractor/trailers down our city streets.