Debate worth having: does using rat runs actually save fleets time? 

"Rat runs" are residential streets that are used by drivers - especially fleets of delivery trucks - during busy traffic periods to avoid congestion. With increasing pressures on delivery companies to complete orders quickly, rat runs are now routinely being used to transport goods and make deliveries. 

However, they are not without their controversy because of fears around increased noise, pollution and traffic incidents in residential areas. Our experts comment that logistics companies should also think about the added costs of using these routes, which may rack up in the long term. 

Statistics released by the UK’s Department of Transport in 2020 shows that rat running has risen sharply in the decade before the study was released. London’s traffic has doubled on side streets, which are often residential, from 5.5 billion vehicle miles in 2009 to 9.5 billion in 2019. The cause of this has been named as the boom in internet shopping and the subsequent delivery services springing up. 

Omar Kazzaz is a business coach and consultant with over 32 years of experience in global logistics. He is the founder and CEO of the Kazzaz Advisory Group, a consulting and coaching organization, advising clients on issues such as how best to navigate and streamline their supply chain and logistics. Though Omar is not a huge fan of using the much-maligned rat-runs as a concept, he said he can understand why delivery companies will often choose to use them. 

“You’re going to reduce congestion by choosing to send your vehicles through rat runs, and that’s appealing for logistics companies because ultimately they want to get goods to customers as fast as possible, so they can have happier customers and make more deliveries,” Omar said. “There’s also increased driver morale - because when a driver moves faster by using less congested routes, he can deliver more cargo, and earn more money as a result, as drivers are often paid on a per-delivery basis.” 

Kazzaz cited that delivery companies will “waste less gas” when using rat runs as another cost-cutting measure. However, he believes there are some real disadvantages to using rat runs, and believes that logistics companies should think about the bigger picture. “While you may use less gas, you have to think about the health of both your truck and the driver when you’re running a delivery service,” Kazzaz said.

“There’s generally more wear and tear on a vehicle when it uses rat runs because it is driving longer distances. Also, the asphalt on residential roads may not be as good as on the highway, which will damage the vehicle in the long run. When I advise businesses, I want them to think longer-term - if they have to replace a vehicle sooner for this reason, is using a rat run really the cost-cutting measure they believe it to be?”

Kazzaz also brought up the point that though many companies believe rat runs save time, paradoxically drivers may have to go slower in a rat run, as it’s a residential area. “You’ll often have to drive at 35 miles per hour instead of 75, and that slows you down,” he added. 

When it comes to the driver themself, Kazzaz said that he advises the companies he works with to think of the long-term health of their drivers. “Where you have more wear on a vehicle, you’re also going to induce more wear and tear on the driver physically. When he’s spending more time and more frustration on the road, you may end up losing him as an employee. We have a big driver shortage in the US, and when you lose one, the next one that comes along, you may have to pay him more because of how scarce they are.” 

In the UK, there’s been an ongoing debate about "low-traffic neighborhoods", or "LTRs". The Guardian reports that between 2020 and 2022, over 200 residential roads across the city were blocked off in one direction to motorists so they could act as "through-roads" prioritized for pedestrians and cyclists, to encourage people to walk or use their bikes more often. 

This can be done either with cameras in one direction to keep traffic at bay, or physically, with concrete posts or large plant pots. The practice is also known as "modal filtering" and isn’t actually a new concept - this kind of measure has been in place since the 1960s in the UK, where around 22,000 of them exist.

Robert Khachatryan is CEO and founder of Freight Right Global Logistics and is an expert in supply chain design and eCommerce shipping. He commented that although rat runs are a good idea when it comes to easing the traffic on the busiest main roads, the concerns within neighborhoods are justified. 

“Mapping technology is super smart in the way that it can tell a driver where the most traffic is so that they can avoid it and take a less congested route. But it is a burden on these smaller streets, and the people who live there are getting the shorter end of the stick,” he said. “At the same time, these are the same people who also get to work a little quicker, or can take their kids to school a little faster as the pressure on those main roads is a little less.”

Similarly to Kazzaz, Khachatryan highlighted the damage on a vehicle that can end up costing a delivery a lot more money when using these smaller roads. “Something like an increase in maneuvering over speed bumps, that’s going to take its toll on a delivery truck eventually. And traffic incidents, also - aside from the danger to the people living in rat-run areas - it’s dangerous for drivers also.”

Khachatryan mentioned that with the emergence of newer eCommerce companies, comes a lack of experience in factoring in these kinds of elements. “A lot of new companies emerging might not be mature enough or sophisticated enough to take these kinds of things into consideration. If you’re operating a suite of just five trucks, you might not have the understanding yet about these factors, so you may well send your driver on the rat run because there’s less traffic and you think it’ll be faster. But it’s a real drawback when you consider how much insurance is going to cost your business after a crash, for example.”

In terms of quality of life for people living in rat-run areas, Khachatryan spoke as a parent on how this kind of traffic can affect kids growing up. “It’s easy to reminisce about kids riding bikes in the street or walking to school, but to me having commercial vehicles in residential areas is a big problem in terms of safety for children - not to mention the increase in pollution which affects us all.”

Khachatryan said there are some positives when it comes to location navigation software that could be explored more in the future. “There’s a big freeway next to my house, and whenever there’s a traffic incident, the traffic is diverted to a larger main road nearby. What I wonder is why this traffic can’t be split more evenly when there’s a traffic jam on the freeway - not just when accidents take place - and there’s no traffic on the main road. I think it’s something that could help people a lot and save them a lot of time if the tech can get this right. It could be a real force for good.”

Kazzaz believes that ultimately, companies should look at ways to save time and money for their customers outside of using rat runs. “While a customer may ask you to cut corners, ultimately I don’t believe this is the right way because it will always cost you more in the long run. If you don’t perform well, you will have to give the customer a discount, and that will cost you. To save customers money, I would look more at bigger aspects like consolidating cargo, so that you reduce that customer's costs in the first place.”