With online shopping continuing to grow, we all have a vested interest in solving the last-mile delivery problem, if only to improve the probability that our online Christmas purchases will arrive on time. However, it is all too easy to think that the problem rests with the transport and logistics sector, when it may actually lie much closer to home.

Instead of focusing on what logistics companies and their 3PL partners should be doing to streamline online deliveries, local authorities should be placing much greater focus on facilitating the development of storage and distribution facilities close to the communities they are designed to serve.