In her article for Offsite Builder, writer Zena Ryder gets into one of the least glamorous but most dangerous choke points in modular construction: logistics in the city. She looks at what really happens when finished modules leave the factory and have to make their way through tight streets, aggressive traffic control rules, staging limitations, and neighborhood pushback. It’s not theory. It’s the daily reality that can decide whether a project hits schedule or bleeds money.
Ryder walks through why the “last mile” has become the new battlefield. You can have beautiful design, perfect shop drawings, strong contracts, and smooth production on the factory floor — and still lose your margin on delivery day. Coordinating police details, timing street closures, getting cranes on site exactly when they’re needed (and not a minute longer than you’re paying for), and finding somewhere to stage the modules when there is no “somewhere” is now part of the business. Miss any of those pieces and the cost advantage of modular starts to evaporate.
What her piece makes clear is that modular in dense urban settings isn’t just construction. It’s choreography. Everyone involved — manufacturers, GCs, developers, transportation crews, even local officials — has to treat logistics as a core discipline, not an afterthought. That’s the shift. The companies that master urban delivery will keep winning work. The ones that treat delivery like “we’ll figure it out when the trucks get there” are going to get humbled fast.
CLICK HERE to read Zena Ryder’s entire article
.
With over 9,000 published articles on modular and offsite construction, Gary Fleisher remains one of the most trusted voices in the industry.
.
CLICK HERE to read the latest edition
Contact Gary Fleisher
