Category «Research»

Optimizing the changing locations of mobile parcel lockers

To reduce congestion, environmental damage, and negative health impact in large urban areas plenty of novel concepts for last-mile distribution have been innovated in recent years. The concept treated in this paper is mobile parcel lockers that are able to change their locations during the day, either autonomously or moved by a human driver.

The data gap: what we still don’t know about urban freight

Urban freight makes up an increasing percentage of transport operations and emissions, but there is no common methodology to capture the data we need to optimize deliveries for sustainable cities. Urban freight operations are run by a complex network of private and public sector actors. Often, the most comprehensive data available lies with the private sector, …

Is online grocery shopping better for the planet?

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos claims grocery delivery cuts carbon emissions by 43% compared to traditional shopping. Grist did a fact-check. Grist spoke with experts. They said that on average, ordering online often reduces the carbon footprint of grocery shopping. The word average is key. This finding doesn’t scale down to the individual level neatly, and the way …

From home delivery to parcel lockers: a case study in Amsterdam

E-commerce is still a strong growing segment with fierce competition among parcel delivery service providers. To stay ahead of the competitors’ innovation is necessary. Currently, parcels are being delivered with large delivery vans which will usually deliver single parcels to doorsteps of their customers. This so-called ‘last-mile delivery’ is the most expensive logistics activity. In …

Approaching delivery as a service (DaaS)

A paper by Marcel Huschebeck, Jacques Leonardi looks at the new city logistics business model of Delivery as a Service, a concept aiming at a more efficient, fast, and customer-oriented practice, linking IT solutions development, urban logistics operations, supply chain efficiency and new business models.