Author archives

Research: the effects of a water-bound construction consolidation center on off-site transport performance

The environmental impact of construction logistics is significant in urban areas, characterized by high receptor densities, less accessible sites, and limited storage space. To reduce negative externalities generated by urban construction transport and improve the use of existing inland waterway transport (IWT) infrastructure, the City of Brussels has implemented a water-bound Construction Consolidation Centre (BCCC). …

Drone flight data reveal energy and GHG emissions savings for tiny parcel delivery

Uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs) for last-mile deliveries will affect the energy productivity of delivery and require new methods to understand energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Researchers have combined empirical testing of 188 quadcopter flights across a range of speeds with a first-principles analysis to develop a usable energy model and a machine-learning algorithm …

Bloomberg: we are going to need a lot more electric cargo bikes

Parcel delivery companies in European cities are replacing delivery vans with cargo bikes. But the US rollout of cargo bikes has been slow. Bloomberg reports about it. Electric cargo bikes could replace many of the delivery vehicles that deliver parcels around cities. A recent study in London found that cargo bikes could reduce emissions from parcel delivery by one-third …

Can smart mobility hubs be a game changer if you ignore their city logistics role?

There is a new report out by Urban Europe on smart mobility hubs as game changer in transport. The report provides valuable guidelines for integrating mobility hubs in the urban space. A mobility hub is a physical location where shared mobility options are offered at permanent, dedicated, and visible locations and where public or collective …

Digital work and urban deliveries: on-demand food delivery

Platform-based on-demand delivery services are rapidly developing in urban areas, especially in the food sector, raising new issues for urban planners, especially in transport. Based on a survey of over 100 couriers conducted in 2018 in the municipality of Paris (France), a new paper aims to analyze the profile, delivery activity, and mobility practices of …

4.0 technologies in city logistics: an empirical investigation of contextual factors

Industry 4.0 technologies, originally developed in the manufacturing sector, can be purposefully implemented to improve City Logistics (CL) processes by automatizing some of their operational tasks and enabling the real-time exchange of information, with the ultimate goal of providing better interconnection among the actors involved. The digital transformation that logistics networks face offers new opportunities …

Risky business: comparing the riding behaviors of food delivery and private bike riders

The growth in the gig economy and a preference for home delivery of meals due to COVID-19 have led to huge growth in the food delivery business internationally and consequent road safety concerns. There is increasing evidence that delivery riding is an occupation with significant road safety risks because work pressures encourage risky behaviors. However, …

The carbon footprint of alternative grocery shopping and new transportation options

The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the growth of e-commerce and automated warehouses, vehicles, and robots and has created new options for grocery supply chains. As shoppers searched for safe and convenient ways to get essential items, grocers adapted to meet increased e-commerce demand. Micro-fulfillment center enabled grocers to quickly fill pickup orders, sometimes within an …

Research: usability of Physical Internet characteristics for sustainable urban freight

Urban freight logistics currently have to deal with multiple unsustainable conditions. Physical Internet (PI) characteristics promise to make urban freight logistics more sustainable. The PI is a vision that could fundamentally change current logistics operations. Montreuil even thinks that “we face a revolution as radical as the Internet Revolution.” Ballot et al. define the PI …

Call for papers for the 12th International Conference on City Logistics

Check out the call for papers for the 12th International Conference on City Logistics. The conference will be held online on 19-21 June 2023. It will be a hybrid conference of on-line and in-person of City Logistics 2023 at the University of Bordeaux, in Bordeaux, France on 19-21 June 2023. Participants can choose either on-line …