Anyone delivering to businesses in London may find that the realities of the Olympic Route Network in Central London force them to reschedule daytime deliveries to take place between the hours of midnight and 6am.

In addition, Transport for London is aiming to encourage night deliveries to try and minimise the inevitable extra traffic congestion that will be caused by the Games.

Councils ‘Sympathetic’ To Noise

In a recent statement, TfL said that local councils will be ‘sympathetic’ to businesses trying to arrange out-of-hours deliveries.

Presumably it aims to be more tolerant than usual where noise disturbance is concerned. However, in an effort to minimise the disturbance to local residents, TfL has published a Code of Practice for night time deliveries, produced in conjunction with the Freight Transport Association (FTA). Click here to read the Code of Practice.

Hire Demand High

As I’ve mentioned in these pages before, demand for van hire is likely to be sky high during the Olympics, as restricted delivery hours may mean that companies have to hire extra vehicles to make all their deliveries during the permitted window, rather than staggering them through the day. Booking your Olympic van hire early will be essential to ensure you can meet your commitments.

From an individual point of view, demand for minibuses and vans will be very high and shortages are likely – if you are planning a group outing, moving house or anything else requiring a guaranteed hire van or minibus, I’d book it now.

To help you plan your hire requirements, we’ve produced a guide to all of the London 2012 Olympic venues and the nearest hire branches.