Is it more efficient, in a global kind of way, for goods to be delivered to a store or to your home?

Question

Is it more efficient for goods to be delivered to a store and you go pick it up and use gas or for a delivery company to use gas to deliver a package to your door?

Answer 1

It is probably better for you to pick them up because chances are your car is not diesel and diesel is even worse for the environment than gas.  Plus, their truck would use more fuel than a car would, you can always try to pick up the item when you are going to be in that area.

Answer 2

It is absolutely more efficient for it to be delivered to the store first.

It's not just a matter of a vehicle being used to transport the goods - you have to think of the bulk.  Imagine 100 widgets being brought to a city where, presumably, 100 people will buy them.  Now, a semi (diesel, large, polluting) can deliver all 100 widgets to the store, where 100 people will drive their personal vehicles to pick them up. This doesn't sound good, but consider the alternative:

A delivery service - FedEx, UPS, USPS - all also use large, diesel powered vehicles. For them to loop up and down neighborhood streets, idling their trucks while they drop off 100 widgets at 100 different places - you can imagine.

To help reduce this, and increase your efficiency, why not bike to the store for your widget? - assuming it's a small widget, of course!

Answer 3

There is no difference between a delivery truck dropping off packages and a transit bus delivering people to work in the morning. Mass transit works. It saves fuel by putting one vehicle on the road instead of hundreds. Yes it is more efficient to use a shipping service like UPS to deliver goods, you save time and gas.

Answer 4

It probably makes no difference. Either the UPS truck comes to your house or your car goes to the store. Either way, gas is used.