Construction is responsible for a large part of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions worldwide (39%) and environmental concerns in construction are growing. Construction is transport intensive since the final construction products like buildings are built directly at the site of use and all resources need to be transported to and from the construction site. The environmental impact of construction transport is significant and requires attention since 90% of the transport within construction is road transport. However, historically both regulatory bodies and the construction companies have overlooked construction transport causing transport to remain unnoticed as a separate activity. Construction transport efficiency (CTE) is low, but CTE can be improved using solutions such as logistics services, digital tools, and information sharing which in turn add value to the involved actors and reduce CO2 emissions. However, there is a need to better understand how to improve CTE.

The purpose of the thesis is "to investigate how to improve construction transport efficiency by using logistics services, digital tools and information sharing to add value for the involved actors".

Three research questions (RQs) have been developed to achieve the purpose of the thesis:

RQ1a: What activities constitute construction transport?

RQ1b: What are the challenges in improving construction transport efficiency?

RQ2: How can logistics services, digital tools and information sharing improve construction transport efficiency?

RQ3: How does improving construction transport efficiency add value for the involved actors?To answer the RQs, a case study has been used as a primary research approach to develop an in-depth and detailed understanding of construction transport. The thesis comprises five studies over the period of five years. Data has been collected mainly through observations, interviews, and company’s internal statistical data. Furthermore, construction transport flows have been studied from different actor’s perspective such as transporter, main contractor, material supplier, and waste collector.

The thesis highlights the lack of efficiency within construction transport by identifying value adding, non-value adding, and necessary but non-value adding activities. The underlying reasons for the low CTE are lack of planning, poor communication, and lack of standard operating procedures (SOPs). Lack of planning leads to poor routing, empty travelling, and an increased number of transport. Likewise, poor communication results in outdated plans, last-minute changes, delayed deliveries whereas lack of SOPs results in non-standardized processes, lack of proper loading and unloading zones and improper material handling leading to damages. Due to poor transport planning, poor communication and lack of SOPs, construction transport uses more resources (such as time, fuel, vehicle, energy, and effort) than needed, adding less value to the involved actors (i.e. transporter, main contractor, material supplier and waste collector) as well as impacting the environment negatively.

The thesis emphasizes the value of logistics services (such as material management, on-site vendor management inventory (VMI), waste management) for the involved actors in terms of improving CTE and how CTE can be improved using logistics services, digital tools and information sharing. Given the critical importance of delivery reliability within construction transport, the thesis provides value by detailing the time taken by each activity within construction transport flow via value stream mapping approach. Moreover, the thesis broadly adds knowledge to Logistics and Construction Management research areas whereby focusing specifically on construction transport—so far unnoticed as a distinct activity.