by Walther Ploos van Amstel
For the 22nd time, Deutsche Post (DP) has published a study comparing current letter prices in Europe. The study reviews the 27 member states of the European Union, Great Britain, and the EFTA countries of Norway, Switzerland, and Iceland. Recognizing that a purely nominal approach does not go far enough, DP has also included criteria …
As appointed in the EU Circular Economy Action Plan, cities and regions in EU member countries start accompanying their circular economy strategies by monitoring frameworks, often called Circular Economy Monitors (CEM). CEMs need to rely on many statistics and datasets to assess performance towards achieving set targets and steer decision-making. Waste statistics play an essential role in …
Globalization, urbanization, and the recent COVID-19 pandemic have raised the demand for logistic activities. This change is affecting the entire supply chain, especially the last-mile step. This step is considered the most expensive and ineffective part of the supply chain and a source of negative economic, environmental, and social externalities. A publication by Portuguese researchers …
Alternative solutions for sustainable last-mile parcel deliveries have been piloted and partially implemented in Europe in the past decade. However, these delivery concepts have mainly been considered in inner-city areas. There are a few examples of applying these concepts in peripheral urban areas, where new housing is being built to accommodate high population pressure. However, …
The advancement of new technologies and the increasingly inseparable presence of logistics systems in the daily life of cities, industries, companies, and society has been modifying how logistics processes are implemented in these environments based on technological innovations, internet, virtual businesses, mobility, and the use of multi-channel distribution. Together with these changes, urban centers have …
Road transport is an enabler for economic and social life and one of the key sectors of the EU, corresponding to at least 5% of the European Gross Value Added and employing around 10.3 million people. Today, approximately 73 % of the total EU population lives in cities, towns, and suburbs, and the urban population’s …
City logistics take a considerable part in urban transportation. Inevitably, the last mile deliveries are partly responsible for degrading the environment. Towards more environmentally friendly city logistics, using different means of transport has been tested; one among them is drones. A new paper aims better to understand the use of drones for last-mile deliveries. More …
Is it possible for flexible applications of infrastructure to help cope with the demand for space? In a new paper, researchers tried to answer how different forms of flexibility can impact the societal costs of infrastructure development on passenger transport hubs. The value is used to determine these impacts for an explorative research option. This …
On behalf of the Austrian Post, the Federal Environment Agency analyzed the climate effects of online and stationary retail purchases. In addition, the economic impact of national and international online retailing was examined. The result: climate-friendly parcel delivery offers potential savings in greenhouse gas emissions. If customers also use domestic online retailers, this positively affects …
Parcel lockers have emerged as a potential solution to the last-mile delivery challenges and are believed to reduce delivery times and traffic congestion. However, there has been no empirical analyses of the impacts of parcel lockers (in larger residential buildings) on delivery times. Researchers found that using lockers caused a 50–60% drop in the average …