Vail targets major carriers like FedEx, UPS in quest to rid villages of vehicles

As the town of Vail continues its quest to get all vehicles out of its pedestrian villages, it is eyeing its next target: high-volume commercial carriers like UPS, FedEx and DHL.

The town started the program to get vehicles out of Vail and Lionshead Village in October 2022. It contracted with 106West Logistics to operate the courier program from the Mountain Plaza loading dock and its warehouse in EagleVail.

The initial program included all delivery vehicles except for the high-volume commercial carriers. Rather than delivering directly within the villages, the delivery trucks deliver goods either to EagleVail or to one of five loading docks in Vail. From there, items are then delivered through the village by small electric vehicles. Delivery companies are required to pay an annual dock fee to receive a permit to enter any of these docks.

For the program’s first winter, the town eliminated around 47 trucks and 147 visits in the village on an average day.  

“Since all the larger trucks are gone, we’ve been getting a lot of complaints about UPS, FedEx and DHL,” said Vail Police Chief Ryan Kenney at the Aug. 1 Town Council meeting.

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According to Kenney, on average days, FedEx and UPS spend four to six hours delivering in the village. During peak seasons, these companies will have two trucks in the village for most of the day.

Getting there

Kenney reported that in April and May, the town met with the contractor as well as UPS, FedEx and DHL to figure out a solution to remove all three carriers from the pedestrian villages.

“We met with FedEx and UPS; long story short we got their volumes, their expectations and all sat down and had a meeting,” Kenney said. “With one additional cart and one additional body, we feel we can pull them off the street, of the village and not allow them in anymore.”

Already, both companies’ freight delivery goes to the town’s docks — it’s just the express delivery vehicles that still deliver in the village.

Kenney noted that DHL has hired a third-party contractor that currently has a dock permit. The company will continue to do the bulk of its deliveries in this way.

With support from the carriers and contractor, the town has enough funds budgeted to pilot the program for four months starting in September. The goal is to get a sense of the volume of deliveries and the resources required to handle the volume from the delivery trucks to the loading and delivery program.

 “It’ll cover the end of December, we’re trying to get that Christmas week, to get that volume,” Kenney said. “What will happen is, if everything goes according to plan, sometime in mid to the end of October, I’ll come back to you and let you know things are going good. Then, at that time, tell FedEx and UPS they need to purchase dock permits for the next year.”

Growing pains

In order to handle the increased volume, the plan is for FedEx and UPS to deliver to the main Mountain Plaza loading dock, and organize the packages onto shelving by location. From there, the contractor will deliver the packages following the food and beverage deliveries.

While, Kenney assured that the deliveries will still “make all times we need to make, all the guarantees that FedEx and UPS have,” there may be some growing pains.

One issue in particular that Kenney pointed to is that customers will receive a notification saying their item was delivered once it reaches the dock. In reality, “it’ll probably be another 45 minutes to an hour before our contractor gets that out to the address.”

While Kenney noted some of this will be communication with individuals in the villages, it is working with the carriers to find a solution as well.

With the additional cart and employee required, Kenney reported that the annual costs are expected to increase by $77,640. The dock permits required by FedEx and UPS will “cover the bulk of the cost of additional resources needed to handle the increased volume,” according to the Town Council report.

Kenney noted that it might take some time to work out any challenges and “get into a rhythm.”

However, ultimately, he remained optimistic.

“Based on how our contractor has done with food and beverage, I have no doubt they’ll be able to handle this as efficiently.”