Hansel Oh, Director of Product Marketing at Brivo, looks at how integrating modern technology can improve the dark deliveries process. 

The ‘dark delivery’ is nothing new. Lorry drivers have long been travelling across UK motorways at all hours to deliver goods on time.

In the case of a dark delivery, drivers have either been met by facility staff at their destination, or entrusted with a key or access code, to drop off their goods.  

The change today is that dark deliveries have become more common.

Increasing numbers of businesses require replenished stock on a rolling basis to meet demand and reduce disruption to daytime operations. 

While it is an increasingly popular way to receive goods, the traditional, manual process for dark deliveries is simply not sustainable.

Staffing warehouses to receive goods at all hours is now a struggle.

A recent survey by the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport found that 86% of UK companies experienced recent shortages in warehouse operatives.

When staff are in short supply, hiring is difficult—and hiring staff to work unsociable hours becomes nearly impossible. 

To adapt to this reality, a good place for facility and security managers to start is by modernising operations. Technology and automation can improve how “things have always been done”–while also prioritising security at the same time.    

Why are dark deliveries so crucial today? 

According to the Department for Transport (DfT), traffic levels in England and Wales are projected to grow by as much as 54% by 2060.

For businesses, the best work around for the increasing risk of traffic congestion is using dark deliveries when the roads are quietest.  

At the same time, many local authorities are pushing back on this congestion by prioritising other methods of travel—public transport, cycling and walking.

The idea is that those who can choose to travel in another way will do so, but obviously this is impossible for most deliveries.

Therefore, it makes sense to make as many deliveries as possible at off-peak times, outside rush hour and overnight. 

“Dark deliveries” means delivering at times when a store is closed or minimally staffed, so not exclusively at night, but these quiet times are an attractive option to increase efficiency.  

But with dark deliveries comes access control complexities and issues of trust and security.

Where delivery drivers are entrusted with temporary access—be that a spare set of keys, alarm system codes or access codes—the threat of access credentials being compromised can’t be ignored.  

Steps to mitigate risks, like regularly changing alarm codes, can come at the expense of convenient access for the wider workforce.

We know from cybersecurity that requests to change passwords regularly is actually insecure and bad practice, encouraging people to keep a sticky note of their password on their laptop. The same is true of physical security. 

The solution of keeping a facility team member available on site 24/7 is not necessarily efficient. Along with the cost of constant on-site supervision, staff members come and go.  

Ever-changing access codes or misplaced key cards can lead to false alarms being activated or teams being locked out.

This approach can often rely on a single person, which can be a problem if they are off sick. 

In short, facilitating lots more dark deliveries doesn’t just require an overhaul of legacy methods to manage deliveries.

It requires a new system that is compatible with a new way of receiving deliveries. 

Small evolutions, big gains 

It may seem daunting, but just a handful of technology-enabled changes can bring about a massive shift towards seamless deliveries fit for today’s requirements.  

For example, leveraging a cloud-based access control system allows facility teams to remotely assign and revoke access permissions to any of their sites around the country.

This makes for a far easier approach to managing the ‘steps’ associated with delivery.  

No longer is it necessary to visit a site to change a passcode and then distribute the new code to everyone who needs it. Instead, access can be toggled off (or on) remotely. 

This works especially well when sites are integrated with mobile digital credentials.

It enables facilities staff and third parties to use mobile phones as an access solution and has a number of advantages.  

It removes the need for keys or fobs, cutting down on hardware costs—both the initial outlay and replacing anything lost.

It replaces access codes, a security measure with many inherent flaws.  

How can teams distribute these codes in a secure way, and ensure that no one writes it down to remember it?  

Instead, just as everyone today carries their mobile with them at all times—and keeps it secure through biometrics and their own access codes—they are also carrying and securing their access credentials. 

What’s more, it is far harder to compromise mobile credentials than it is to duplicate access cards or steal keys, thanks to the security features built in by device manufacturers and mobile OS developers.

When changes to access rights need to be made, it’s as simple as granting and revoking in real time on a central management platform. 

Going further 

While integrating these technologies enables far easier dark deliveries, it really only scratches the surface. Modernising access technologies has the potential to enable much more. 

This technology uses APIs that can be used to integrate with all manner of applications.

For example, APIs integrate cloud-based access control with the workflows of other enterprise applications that deal with logistics, inventory management, or other security solutions.  

Integrating access control can go beyond driving efficiencies, to optimising logistics schedules, driving cost savings via centralisation and easily scale policy changes—all of which help businesses run better.  

The exact timing of deliveries at different parts of the day is valuable data and it can be used for tweaks that could have far reaching effects.

Spending less time on the road is always going to be popular with the person making the delivery, especially if it means they spend less time on the road.  

The strict rules around delivery driver hours can mean they need to make overnight stops and unscheduled rests if deliveries are not optimised.

But cutting down on delivery times can also help meet sustainability goals, where small wins add up fast, not to mention reducing costs and increasing profitability.  

Access control can also be integrated with other security systems, such as cameras and licence plate recognition, to detect anomalies and flag up issues far more quickly.

Often, camera footage is used to help law enforcement find those responsible after the fact. Integrated with other technologies, it has the potential to be far more proactive. 

Dark deliveries are the future, given today’s context of busier roads and a tighter workforce.

Embracing technology that improves the dark delivery process to ease the day-to-day (or night-to-night) of facility managers will make this far easier—and enable more modernisation and integration down the line. 

This article was originally published in the September Edition of Security Journal UK. To read your FREE digital edition, click here.