The Adoption of Green Vehicles in Last Mile Logistics: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Widespread adoption of green vehicles in urban logistics may contribute to the alleviation of problems such as environmental pollution, global warming, and oil dependency. However, the current adoption of green vehicles in the last mile logistics is relatively low despite many actions taken by public authorities to overcome the negative externalities of distributing goods in cities. This paper presents a comprehensive literature review on studies investigating the adoption of green vehicles in urban freight transportation, paying specific attention to e-commerce. To shed light on the adoption of green vehicles in city logistics, the paper conducts a systematic review of the empirical literature on the topic. The 159 articles reviewed were classified into the following: (a) Optimization and scheduling (67 papers); (b) policy (55 papers); (c) sustainability (37 papers). Among the 159 articles, a further selection of 17 papers dealing with e-commerce, i.e., studies that highlight the most relevant aspects related to the integration of green vehicles in e-commerce urban logistics, was performed. Our findings indicate that green vehicles are competitive in urban deliveries characterized by frequent stop-and-go movements and low consolidation levels while incentives are still necessary for their adoption. The use of autonomous vehicles results the most promising and challenging solution for last-mile logistics.

The Use of Drones for Last-Mile Delivery: A Numerical Case Study in Milan, Italy

“…Patella et al (2020) showed that interest in using green vehicles in urban logistics has increased significantly as documented by the growing number of publications on this topic in recent years. In the study, three main categories are identified with respect to the various perspectives of papers dealing with urban logistics: (i) Optimization and Planning (O), (ii) Policy (P), and (iii) Sustainability (S) [17].…”

Reactive Planning-Driven Approach to Online UAVs Mission Rerouting and Rescheduling

“…In order to provide an example to illustrate the proposed approach, let us consider a distribution network (from Figure 1a) covering an area of 100 km 2 An example illustrating the course of the UAVs fleet mission, 1 S, and the values of the resistance functions, 2. It is worth noting that the UAVs' routing for mission 1 S is weatherproof for a given weather forecast (i.e., Y k,l (θ) ≥ F (θ)) :…”

“…In this paper, we consider the planning of the fleet mission problem for UAVs with highly dynamic and unpredictable environment constraints [1][2][3][4][5]. Typical disruptions in deliveries by UAVs may be caused by ad hoc changes to the deliveries ordered or changing weather conditions, which affect the energy consumption of UAVs and result in their shorter range due to the depletion of batteries [6,7].…”

Characterization and Design for Last Mile Logistics: A Review of the State of the Art and Future Directions

“…• Sustainable LML system design in urban areas: Collaborative urban logistics services should be considered for better consolidation of existing infrastructure and resources to leverage the environmental sustainability of LML deliveries in urban areas. An environmentally-friendly LML system can be operated by fewer delivery vehicles and light-weight vehicles to lessen emissions [104]. Moreover, the innovative digitalization of LML systems is required for the successful development of a sustainable smart city.…”