A Simulation-Based Evaluation of a Cargo-Hitching Service for E-Commerce Using Mobility-on-Demand Vehicles

Abstract

Time-sensitive parcel deliveries—shipments requested for delivery in a day or less—are an increasingly important aspect of urban logistics. It is challenging to deal with these deliveries from a carrier perspective. These require additional planning constraints, preventing the efficient consolidation of deliveries that is possible when demand is well known in advance. Furthermore, such time-sensitive deliveries are requested to a wider spatial scope than retail centers, including homes and offices. Therefore, an increase in such deliveries is considered to exacerbate negative externalities, such as congestion and emissions. One of the solutions is to leverage spare capacity in passenger transport modes. This concept is often denominated as cargo hitching. While there are various system designs, it is crucial that such a solution does not deteriorate the quality of service of passenger trips. This research aims to evaluate the use of mobility-on-demand (MOD) services that perform same-day parcel deliveries. To test the MOD-based solutions, we utilize a high-resolution agent- and activity-based simulation platform of passenger and freight flows. E-commerce demand carrier data collected in Singapore are used to characterize simulated parcel delivery demand. We explore operational scenarios that aim to minimize the adverse effects of fulfilling deliveries with MOD service vehicles on passenger flows. Adverse effects are measured in fulfillment, wait, and travel times. A case study on Singapore indicates that the MOD services have potential to fulfill a considerable amount of parcel deliveries and decrease freight vehicle traffic and total vehicle kilometers travelled without compromising the quality of MOD for passenger travel. Insights into the operational performance of the cargo-hitching service are also provided.

Multifunctional lightweight autonomous vehicles: an agent-based study

“…Regarding multifunctional services, even within the broader field of SAEVs -which focuses on larger-sized vehicles such as cars and taxis-a comprehensive review by Li et al [12] underscores that there is a gap in research on multifunctional vehicle fleets. The two most closely related papers are a study by Schlenther et al [29] investigating the possibility of renting private autonomous vehicles for parcel deliveries, while Romano-Alho et al [30], proposed using shared (nonautonomous) vehicles for parcel deliveries in addition to working as a mobility-on-demand system. While these studies are relevant to our current investigation, they do not focus on shared autonomous vehicles.…”

Integrating Parcel Deliveries into a Ride-Pooling Service -- An Agent-Based Simulation Study

“…They aim at creating an optimal routing schedule between a randomly generated set of pick-up and drop-off requests of passengers and parcels. Alho et al [64] investigate the use of MoD services performing same-day parcel deliveries. Therefore, they evaluate a cargo-hitchhiking service for e-commerce using MoD vehicles in a simulation-based approach.…”

“…A dynamic simulation environment is proposed where decisions to serve customers and or parcels have to be made online to model a realistic setting. As can be seen in Table 1, the authors are only aware of the approach of Alho et al [64] to meet similar contributions. Nevertheless, a different approach to integration is investigated in this study.…”

Planning and development of sustanable logistics systems at a micro-level

“…Developed MCCs in the delivery zone enable the application of ecovehicles and crowdsourcing in the last delivery phase. Cargo-hitching, as a CL concept, is covered in [43,44].…”