Abstract

The demand for freight transport is an inevitable issue within the context of socio-economic and political relationship of the society. For instance, it enhances city logistics relatively to land use, traffic and delivery characteristics. Of all these salient issues, traffic is considered the most important because it subsumes congestions, especially along major corridors of the city. Similarly, previous studies pointed out ‘on-the-road’ congestion costs. To these cost must be added the loss of efficiency and/or sales at individual and commercial premises when deliveries arrive late. It is in the light of this that this paperinvestigated the effects of logistical and supply chain trends on the level and nature of demand for freight transport in Lagos. Methodology adopted was inferential statistical techniques and simple descriptive methods. The study identified gaps in the provision of infrastructural capacity and logistics services in the study region. The study further recommended that city logistics should be enhanced so that the city will be economically buoyant, socially vibrant and environmentally friendly.

Key words: Freight, flows, logistics, mega-city, developing, economy.