Part of the charm of any downtown is the number of stores, restaurants and businesses located so close together, creating nearly round-the-clock activity. What this also means is that we need to do our best to accommodate the needs of delivery vehicles.

Whether you work for a delivery company, a distributor or a District merchant, here are some tips for making your job a little easier:

• Always use a marked vehicle for deliveries—parking enforcement has different rules for official delivery vehicles than they do for someone running in for a quick cup of coffee.
• Businesses may park in the alley only if they are obviously loading and unloading. Do not leave your vehicle unattended or you will receive a ticket. This means you may carry something into your store, set it down inside and then immediately return to your car.
• Smaller delivery trucks and delivery vehicles are encouraged to use the east-west running public alleys for loading and unloading. This will get the truck out of traffic and closer to the back entrances of stores and restaurants.
• Larger delivery vehicles pull as far to the right of the street as possible for loading and unloading. Temporary double parking is allowed in this case, although blocking cars from entering or leaving a metered spot is never acceptable.
• On Broadway, larger delivery trucks should park in the middle of the street, down the center divider.
• Loading and unloading should be done as quickly as possible. Parking and idling an engine for a long period of time is not only noisy for those in surrounding stores and restaurants but the exhaust fumes can wreak havoc on someone's sidewalk cafe business.
• If possible, try to avoid large deliveries during peak times—deliveries made during the morning and evening rush hours and during lunch time will tie up customer traffic unnecessarily.
• Even if you are loading and unloading, if you park in a metered spot, you must pay the meter.
• The City no longer offers loading zones for businesses. (The few businesses with loading zones were granted them more than a decade ago.) The current delivery rules were designed so that all businesses could load and unload without monopolizing parking spaces best used by our customers.