The urban freight sector provides an essential service by delivering goods that shops, companies, and households require at a specific place and time. However, the growth of e-commerce and the dawn of on-demand logistics (after this ODL) have raised citizens’ expectations of logistics systems, further stressing them and increasing their operational and environmental costs.
There are no extensive literature reviews specifically on ODL and suggestions for policy prioritization for tackling its effects. A new paper by Lozzi et al. addresses this issue by providing a comprehensive literature review of ODL and its enablers. After a thorough explanation of the ODL rationale, its trends, and its effects, this research analyses possible solutions to its inefficiencies, focusing on enablers and barriers. Furthermore, it illustrates and clarifies the role of external factors in influencing ODL.
Finally, it proposes a systematic evaluation approach by identifying knowledge gaps and consequently defining the subsequent actions needed, broken down by the individual influencing components, rendering these solutions compatible with the status quo and practical for solving the highlighted issues.
