Innovation in Last-Mile and Long-Distance Transportation

Dear Colleagues,

Transport and logistics currently feature a lot of challenges and changes. The latter concern both the demand and supply side. On the demand side, new shopping and ordering habits have emerged, with the surge of e-commerce, stimulated also by the COVID-19 pandemic, being the main phenomenon. On the supply side, innovation is implemented in the form of automation and digitalization, and the uptake of new types of transport connections.

In addition, the transportation sector is facing significant challenges due to the combined effects the COVID-19 pandemic, the pressure for an accelerated decarbonization in order to mitigate climate change, the need to promote freight modal shifts away from the road network, and the disruptive effects of the digitalization and automation processes.

In this Special Issue, contributions are invited that tackle and combine the topics listed below, and that provide analyses on the economic feasibility of the proposed solutions. They can deal with last-mile as well as long-distance transportation, and on any topic related to freight transport and logistics, including but certainly not limited to the following:

1. Urban logistics and sustainable transport, and the exploration of sustainable last-mile delivery solutions tailored to urban environments, including micro-mobility options (e.g., electric bikes, scooters), consolidation centers, and green logistics initiatives aimed at minimizing congestion and emissions, and improving safety;
2. Last-mile delivery, focusing on innovative strategies and technologies to manage and control last-mile delivery, including route planning, vehicle routing and scheduling techniques, and the integration of data analytics to enhance efficiency and reduce delivery costs and impacts;
3. Shopping mobility and e-commerce, including the analysis and the economic feasibility of delivery solutions;
4. Digitalization of freight transport and innovation;
5. Forecasting and modelling freight transport;
6. Railway and maritime transport;
7. External costs and assessment methodologies;
8. Freight transport planning towards a more sustainable world.

The topics handled in this Special Issue perfectly match the journal, as each of the contributions looks at expanding the scope of their specific transport research domain, both from a methodological and a thematic point of view.

Dr. Antonio Comi
Prof. Dr. Thierry Vanelslander
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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• last-mile transport
• long-distance transport
• e-commerce
• transport modes