Category «Research»

Seattle microhub delivery pilot: lessons learned

Urban freight deliveries using microhubs and cargo kibes have gained attention in cities suffering from congestion and emissions. Cargo bike deliveries for parcels and microhubs used as transshipment points in urban cores can replace trucks to make cities more livable. An Urban Freight Lab study describes and empirically evaluates an e-cargo tricycle pilot delivering parcels …

Research: costs and benefits of a low emission zone for city logistics

A new paper aims to quantify the environmental and economic impacts of a low-emission zone in the context of urban freight transport. The research combines a literature review, behavioral data, urban freight transport, environmental models, and cost-benefit analysis methodologies. Through this methodological framework, the researchers examine the costs and benefits of implementing a low-emission zone …

Research: on-demand last-mile distribution network design with omnichannel inventory

E-commerce delivery deadlines are getting increasingly tight, driven by a growing ‘I-want-it-now’ instant gratification mindset of consumers and the desire of online and omnichannel retailers to capitalize on the growth of on-demand e-commerce. On-demand deliveries with delivery deadlines as tight as one or two hours force companies to rethink their last-mile distribution network since tight …

Research: shared-fleet operations in healthcare logistics between public organizations

Shared-fleet logistics involves collaboration between two or more companies to combine workloads and vehicle capacity to improve vehicle utilisation and transport efficiency and reduce costs. A recent study considers the potential environmental and economic benefits of implementing a shared-fleet collaboration between two public organizations: a local government authority and a National Health Service (NHS) Trust. …

Research: seeking equity and justice in city logistics planning

As e-commerce continues to grow and expand across, more and more companies are looking towards building their “last-mile” distribution facilities closer to cities enabling next and same-day deliveries for companies like Amazon. What do equity and social justice mean for urban (freight) planning and management? A new Urban Freight Lab paper reviews transportation and mobility …

Research: exploring logistics-as-a-service to integrate the consumer into urban freight

E-commerce established the consumer as a freight actor. This new reality in the e-commerce supply chain holds economic, social, and environmental opportunities. Consumers have become an essential stakeholder in freight transport, which current logistics systems thus do not reflect. There are three ways in which the integration of consumers is vital to advance last-mile deliveries. First, logistics …

LEAD: Digital Twins for low-emission last-mile logistics

LEAD created Digital Twins of urban logistics networks in six TEN-T urban nodes (Madrid, The Hague, Lyon, Budapest, Oslo, Porto) to support experimentation and decision-making with on-demand logistics operations in a public-private urban setting. City logistics solutions were represented by value case scenarios that address the requirements of the on-demand economy and the pressures caused …