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CHAPTER 3
Moving Urban Goods:
It's All about Supply Chains
The character of economic activity and concentration of residential populations largely deter-
mine what is moving in an urban area. Much of what is transported to, from, and within metro-
politan regions are goods needed to support residents and service businesses. As described earlier,
while the U.S. economy continues to employ a significant number of people in manufacturing, the
base economy has evolved from manufacturing to services. "Over the past three decades, the
United States has lost almost 5 million manufacturing jobs. As a result, the share of the nation's
workforce employed in this sector has dropped sharply, from 20 percent in 1979 to about 11 per-
cent today" (Deitz 2006). As more manufacturing has moved offshore, urban regions have increas-
ingly become centers of consumption rather than centers of production.
Twelve different goods and services supply chains characteristic of many urban environments
were examined for this guidebook. Four are presented as case studies in this chapter; the other
eight are provided in Appendix A. These 12 case studies cover a wide range of freight movements
and illustrate common constraints in the urban environment. Together, they incorporate a spec-
trum of multimodal activity, but particular attention is given to the truck mode because the last
link in the supply chain often is a truck moving through metropolitan streets.
The dozen supply chain illustrations are organized into three channels of goods movement.
Distribution channels are the paths used by businesses to bring goods to market. They can inter-
sect and overlap, and they embody the dynamic nature of goods movement and supply. The three
principal channels for urban goods are defined as follows:
· Industrial Production: Comprises manufacturing of heavy and light goods bound for
businesses and retail outlets. Product shipments range from chemicals, petroleum, and
motor vehicles to packaged goods. Two examples appear in this chapter (on soft drink bev-
erages and gasoline). One more for pharmaceuticals and biotechnology can be found in
Appendix A.
· Retail Distribution: Comprises businesses that distribute consumer products like food, elec-
tronics, publications, and housewares through wholesale and store-front facilities. One exam-
ple appears in this chapter (on retail apparel). Five more can be found in Appendix A, for food
services, urban wholesale food, supermarkets, big box retail, and retail drug stores.
· Service Provision: Comprises service-oriented businesses supplied with, or handling, goods
for their engagements, such as constructing facilities, caring for health, mounting exhibi-
tions, moving household goods, and removing waste. One example appears in this chapter
(on aggregate-based construction materials). Two more can be found in Appendix A, for hos-
pitals and waste and recyclables.
Each illustration has three components: a narrative overview of the steps in the supply chain,
a flowchart depicting those steps, and an account of performance issues for the chain in urban
environments, which underscores concerns for public planners. Following the illustrations is a
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