“…Staffing and fleet sizing As explained above, it is not surprising that the literature on this topic is limited. Specifically, we are only aware of the paper of Salama and Srinivas (2020), who consider the number of drones each truck is equipped with as an additional decision variable. Nonetheless, their focus is also on the routing problem, which is discussed in the following.…”
In the wake of e-commerce and its successful diffusion in most commercial activities, last-mile distribution causes more and more trouble in urban areas all around the globe. Growing parcel volumes to be delivered toward customer homes increase the number of delivery vans entering the city centers and thus add to congestion, pollution, and negative health impact. Therefore, it is anything but surprising that in recent years many novel delivery concepts on the last mile have been innovated. Among the most prominent are unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) and autonomous delivery robots taking over parcel delivery. This paper surveys established and novel last-mile concepts and puts special emphasis on the decision problems to be solved when setting up and operating each concept. To do so, we systematically record the alternative delivery concepts in a compact notation scheme, discuss the most important decision problems, and survey existing research on operations research methods solving these problems. Furthermore, we elaborate promising future research avenues.
“…Staffing and fleet sizing As explained above, it is not surprising that the literature on this topic is limited. Specifically, we are only aware of the paper of Salama and Srinivas (2020), who consider the number of drones each truck is equipped with as an additional decision variable. Nonetheless, their focus is also on the routing problem, which is discussed in the following.…”
In the wake of e-commerce and its successful diffusion in most commercial activities, last-mile distribution causes more and more trouble in urban areas all around the globe. Growing parcel volumes to be delivered toward customer homes increase the number of delivery vans entering the city centers and thus add to congestion, pollution, and negative health impact. Therefore, it is anything but surprising that in recent years many novel delivery concepts on the last mile have been innovated. Among the most prominent are unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) and autonomous delivery robots taking over parcel delivery. This paper surveys established and novel last-mile concepts and puts special emphasis on the decision problems to be solved when setting up and operating each concept. To do so, we systematically record the alternative delivery concepts in a compact notation scheme, discuss the most important decision problems, and survey existing research on operations research methods solving these problems. Furthermore, we elaborate promising future research avenues.
“…Another approach to facilitate more time efficient parcel delivery is to pair drones with traditional delivery trucks where a truck loaded with one or several drones travels close to the demand locations, which are ultimately served by a drone. This type of joint routing has been proven to not only yield higher flexibility of delivery systems but to remarkably decrease delivery times and associated costs (see for instance Carlsson and Song, 2018 ; Chang and Lee, 2018 ; Hong et al, 2018 ; Karak and Abdelghany, 2019 ; Gonzalez et al, 2020 ; Salama and Srinivas, 2020 ; Moshref-Javadi et al, 2020 ; Ulin Hernández et al, 2020 ; Murray and Raj, 2020 ). Aside from commercial applications, such quantitative approaches can also be found in the humanitarian and disaster-related context.…”
The COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly altered common social and economic patterns as governments all over the world have been forced to take drastic measures to counter the spread of the disease. Among them, quarantine, the closure of borders, and social distancing are the ones that have affected transportation systems most severely. With the clear need to avoid all unnecessary direct human contact, an increased interest in contactless transportation and delivery modes emerged. Drones are a promising alternative in this regard, especially for the delivery of essential goods, such as COVID-19 viral tests. In this study, we therefore investigate how drones can be used to distribute viral tests to potentially infected patients. The novel approach that we propose is to use existing drone infrastructure to perform this task, where drones owned and operated by different public and private entities are retrofitted for the distribution of essential goods in the case of emergency. In a wider sense, we hence suggest the establishment of a drone enabled back-up transport system. Potential performance gains are analyzed through a mathematical time and cost model that was developed in close cooperation with the state Red Cross Organization and a utility drone manufacturer. Process design as well as parameter estimation are based on empirical investigation including, but not limited to, accompanying a COVID-19 mobile testing team in the field. The practical feasibility was verified by retrofitting drones initially assigned to other purposes. Additionally, policy recommendations, such as the establishment of public-public and public-private partnerships, were identified.
“…Furthermore, Paddeu et al [22] provides the additional insight of considering a range of stakeholders, and Allen et al [23] proposed a freight traffic controller in order to organize the collaboration in parcel deliveries. Finally, Salama and Srinivas [24] and Jackson and Srinivas [25] consider drone deliveries in scenarios of urban last-mile distribution from a strategic point of view. In the former, The authors propose mixed integer linear programming models for last-mile delivery using multiple drones and a single truck.…”
Urban distribution in medium-sized cities faces a major challenge, mainly when deliveries are difficult in the city center due to: an increase of e-commerce, weak public transportation system, and the promotion of urban sustainability plans. As a result, private cars, public transportation, and freight transportation compete for the same space. This paper analyses the current state for freight logistics in the city center of Pamplona (Spain) and proposes alternative transportation routes and transportation modes in the last-mile city center distribution according to different criteria evaluated by residents. An analytic hierarchy process (AHP) was developed. A number of alternatives have been assessed considering routes and transportation modes: the shortest route criterion and avoiding some city center area policies are combined with traditional van-based, bike, and aerial (drone) distribution protocols for delivering parcels and bar/restaurant supplies. These alternatives have been evaluated within a multicriteria framework in which economic, environmental, and social objectives are considered at the same time. The point in this multicriteria framework is that the criteria/alternative AHP weights and priorities have been set according to a survey deployed in the city of Pamplona (Navarre, Spain). The survey and AHP results show the preference for the use of drone or bike distribution in city center in order to reduce social and environmental issues.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.