🚐 Delivery van
Delivers products to shops and homes.
A delivery van is a small vehicle that takes dairy products to shops, cafés and customers' homes. For chilled products, the van is insulated or fitted with a small cooling unit. It is one of the last links in the cold chain before the shop or the customer's door.
Home milk delivery has a long history. In the UK, from the late 19th century milk was delivered by horse-drawn carts, and from the 1930s more and more often by small electric vans called milk floats. These are quiet vehicles with a speed of 16–26 km/h. They are handy for early-morning rounds through sleeping streets. In 1967, according to a local association, Britain had more electric vehicles than the rest of the world put together, and almost all of them carried milk.
When homes got fridges and people started buying milk in supermarkets, home delivery declined. In the USA, its share fell from 54% of milk sales in 1954 to almost 7% in 1975. Today it is a small service, but in 2020, during the pandemic, demand for it grew. Some companies replaced their electric vans with petrol and diesel ones.
How it connects to milk
🚐 Delivery van → carries → 🚚 Delivery ← → ← 🏪 Shop → stores → 🥛 Milk
Links
- What it does
- 🚚 Delivery
- Who works with it
- 🛵 Courier
Frequently asked questions
What is a milk float?
In the UK, this is the name for a small, usually electric van for delivering milk to homes. It is quiet and slow, about 16–26 km/h.
Why did home milk delivery almost disappear?
Home fridges appeared, along with packaging that keeps milk longer, and people started shopping in supermarkets. Most families no longer needed daily delivery.