JULY 12, 2021 — The Urban Freight Lab (UFL) is pleased to announce the addition of new member Cornucopia Logistics.
“Cornucopia Logistics is a fantastic addition to the Urban Freight Lab,” said UFL Manager Andisheh Ranjbari. “They are passionate about tackling urban delivery challenges through innovative solutions, experienced with complex markets, and keen on improving safety and reducing transportation carbon emissions.”
Founded in 2014, Cornucopia Logistics provides low or zero carbon emissions delivery service of ecommerce, grocery, and durable goods with a focus on urban markets. Cornucopia began using cargo bikes to help reduce carbon emissions and replace traditional gasoline vans in 2018. Since then, the New York-based company has expanded their fleet to about 250 cargo e-bikes.
“I’m thrilled to be invited to participate in the Urban Freight Lab,” said Mark Chiusano, Cornucopia Logistics CEO. “I am passionate about reducing the carbon footprint, helping our planet, and digging into the problems and finding solutions with executing the final 50 feet of urban delivery.”
The final 50 feet of goods delivery — a term coined by the UFL to describe the last leg of a product’s journey from warehouse to customer, beginning when a vehicle parks at the curb and ending when the end-user receives their goods — is the most costly and time-consuming part of the delivery process. Locating available parking at the curb has long been one of the challenges that delivery vehicle drivers face in this space. In recent years, the heightened demand for limited curbspace (due to rising goods delivery, ridehailing usage, curbside pick-up, and shared micromobility) has made it even more challenging.
Chiusano first started working in the transportation industry as a foot messenger in New York City in 1978. “How times have changed,” said Chiusano. “I’ve never been more excited to see what’s next around the corner.”
Cornucopia Logistics joins some of the largest players in transportation and logistics—carriers and shippers PepsiCo, UPS, and United States Postal Service; retailers Amazon and Nordstrom; infrastructure and operations technology provider REEF; real estate corporation Terreno Realty; and vehicle and vehicle part manufacturers Ford Motor Company, General Motors, and Michelin. The UFL is focused on finding solutions to urban goods delivery problems through collaboration between the public and private sectors, in the strategic research areas of the Final 50 Feet, Sustainable Freight, Curbspace Management, Zero Emissions Freight, and Modeling Freight Activity.
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About the Urban Freight Lab (UFL): The Urban Freight Lab is a structured partnership of academic researchers, public sector agencies, and private sector firms — shippers, retailers, tech providers, property owners, and manufacturers — working collaboratively to identify complex urban freight management problems and design solutions to make industry more efficient and cities more livable and sustainable.