Beginning this spring, the District Department of Transportation will start testing ways to convince businesses to receive deliveries between 7:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. The city will provide financial incentives to businesses who adopt the practice. Businesses can use the incentives to increase the wages of workers who would receive shipments overnight, or reconfigure off-street loading docks to allow unmanned deliveries to off-limits areas. Delivery companies are also eligible to apply for the financial incentives. The test program will target: Georgetown, Adams Morgan, downtown, the NoMa area, Capitol Hill and the Golden Triangle business improvement district. The biggest challenge, however, will be convincing businesses to try something new. Many owners resist the idea because they do not want deliveries made when they are not there. The city’s pitch: Overnight deliveries would make their shipments more dependable and could allow some to minimize the extra inventory they keep on hand to cover for late or missed deliveries. The 3 1/2-year test program will be funded through a $150,000 grant from the Federal Highway Administration and $150,000 from DDOT.
