NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK — New York City Department of Transportation is distributing $5 million in incentives to businesses willing to move their commercial truck deliveries to overnight off-peak hours, using revenue generated by the city’s congestion pricing program in a bid to pull thousands of delivery trucks off daytime streets.
The Off-Hour Delivery program provides financial incentives for businesses to shift deliveries to the window between 7 p.m. and 6 a.m. In the first phase, up to 14 businesses will share more than half a million dollars. A second phase will distribute the remaining funding. Applications are open on a rolling basis at ohdnyc.com/incentiveprogram.
The incentives cover practical costs that make overnight deliveries workable — low-noise hand pallet trucks and backup alarms for quiet operation, building security retrofits to allow unattended deliveries, and security camera installations.
NYC DOT Commissioner Mike Flynn said the program is a direct extension of congestion pricing goals. “Congestion pricing is helping combat gridlock in more ways than one. New Yorkers are receiving more deliveries than ever before, so we will be using tolling revenue to make deliveries cleaner, safer, and more efficient. This incentive program will support local businesses and reduce the number of delivery trucks on our roads during busy daytime hours.”
Roughly 90% of goods moving through New York City travel by truck, most arriving during peak daytime hours when curb demand is highest and streets are most crowded. The city’s long-term goal is to shift 62,000 daily trucks to off-hour delivery schedules by 2040, reaching 5,000 participating locations. Currently 27 known businesses representing more than 1,120 locations conduct off-hour deliveries, including Just Salad, Anheuser-Busch InBev, Wegmans, Odeko, and Whole Foods Market.
Businesses in the first phase of the incentive program include Element Brooklyn, Migrant Kitchen, and Tea and Milk.
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