A Review of Last Mile Logistics Innovations in an Externalities Cost Reduction Vision

Abstract

In this paper, a review of the recent scientific literature contributions on innovative strategies for last mile logistics, focusing on externalities cost reduction, is presented. Transport is causing problems in urban areas, in particular in freight transport: modern cities need solutions to reduce externalities costs such as congestion, pollution and others, which have increased in the last few years, especially due to the growth of goods delivery. Online sales and globalization lead to new trends in freight transport, and moreover, a larger quantity of goods is expected to be delivered in the next future. In this context, most of the delivered goods end up in the city centers. Last mile logistics is the least efficient stage of the supply chain and comprises up to 28% of the total delivery cost. Therefore, the improvement of last mile logistics and a significant externalities reduction are very important challenges for researchers. New technologies and transport means, innovative techniques and organizational strategies allow handling in a more effective way the last mile delivery in urban areas. Based on the Systematic Literature Review (SLR) method, recent papers that significantly contributed, with original proposals, to the reduction of externalities in urban logistics are identified and analyzed in this work. Furthermore, a classification of the papers dealing with the externality reduction problem is presented. It is consistent with a general formulation proposed to evaluate external costs in urban area. The innovative contributions are classified into five main categories: innovative vehicles, proximity stations or points, collaborative and cooperative urban logistics, optimization of transport management and routing, innovations in public policies and infrastructures. The new paradigm of smart logistics is based on the combination of these concepts and on the proposed innovations.

Last mile delivery by drones: an estimation of viable market potential and access to citizens across European cities

“…For the past 10 years, economic figures reported by Amazon in the US have shown an increasing disproportion between outbound shipping cost and shipping revenue [7]. It is therefore no surprise that the problem of the last mile delivery is now bringing together solutions combining recent developments in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS), Industry 4.0 and new transport vehicles [8] with the aim to decrease costs. Various solutions, taking into consideration e-consumers' preferences are being investigated.…”

The Tendency of Urban Stakeholders to Adopt Sustainable Logistics Measures on the Example of a Polish Metropolis

“…The economic importance of urban freight movement cannot be overestimated. In the supply chain, last mile logistics is the least efficient stage and accounts for 28% of the total delivery cost [1]. Globally, urban freight represents up to 25% of urban vehicles, takes up to 40% of motorized road space and contributes to up to 40% of urban transport-related CO 2 emissions [2].…”

“…It takes into consideration the functional transport and economic relations between inner urban centers and the surrounding urban territories, as well as the functional transport and economic relations within FUAs not affecting downtowns. The tool consists of a three-step procedure-characterization of the FUA and data collection (1), freight demand and supply modeling (2) and ex-ante evaluation of UFT scenarios (3). The first step, characterization of the FUA, should be done by means of investigation (surveys and traffic counts).…”

City Retail Network Influence on Transportation Expenses

“…This statement applies to monopoly companies that own distribution channels, and does not apply to relatively small retail chains, which are the overwhelming majority in the Ukrainian consumer market. Significant influence on the delivery cost of goods has such indicators as the density of the location of consignees, which is considered in [2,3,4,5], and the size of the batch of cargo [2,6,7,8]. However, proposals for the improvement of a company-specific situation are formulated in these works for only one case, which makes it impossible to determine changing trends and further forecasting.…”