Michelin North America has joined Seattle’s Urban Freight Lab, a public-private partnership associated with the University of Washington’s Supply Chain Transportation and Logistics Center.

UFL studies potential solutions to delivery issues arising from the rise of e-commerce, ride-hailing services, connected and autonomous vehicle technologies, and increasing global urbanization. The partnership brings together transportation engineers, urban planners, retailers, freight carriers, transportation and logistics professionals, manufacturers, and developers.

Michelin said it will contribute its expertise with connected tires, digital solution,s and other innovations to address critical urban development challenges, such as “delivery dwell time,” and reducing congestion through telematics and connected services.

Limited to 13 private- and public-sector members, the Urban Freight Lab is a structured work group comprising senior executives from retail and wholesale companies, manufacturers, logistics, and goods-delivery firms that address the last leg of the delivery process-- either receiving goods in the urban marketplace or moving goods on the ground. Other members include Ford Motor Company, General Motors, Boeing HorizonX, UPS, U.S. Postal Service, Kroger, Nordstrom, PepsiCo, and Kroger.

“Michelin is focused on improving mobility globally, especially in urban areas,” said Adam Murphy, vice president of B2B marketing for Michelin. “UFL shares our fervent belief in the benefits of addressing urban mobility and the last leg of the delivery process ─ often described as the final 50 feet from the delivery vehicle to the customer.”