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Resilient, Safe and Sustainable Solutions for Freight Transport and Logistics

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A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Transportation".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 August 2022) | Viewed by 26756

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Claudia Caballini

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Guest Editor

Department of Environment, Land and Infrastructure Engineering (DIATI), Politecnico di Torino, 10129 Torino, Italy
Interests: port-maritime logistics; sustainable freight transport; intermodality; planning and optimization of transport systems; simulation of transport activities; safety in the port sector; truck appointment systems

Dr. Antonino Canale

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Assistant Guest Editor

Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, University of Enna Kore, Cittadella Universitaria, 94100 Enna (EN), Italy
Interests: sustainable and resilient mobility; shared mobility; microscopic traffic simulation; active mobility; planning for accessibility
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Angela Carboni

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Assistant Guest Editor

Department of Environment, Land and Infrastructure Engineering, Politecnico di Torino, 10129 Torino, Italy
Interests: transport modelling and simulation; intelligent transport system; cooperative, connected, and automated mobility; sustainable transportation systems
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Fabio Borghetti

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Assistant Guest Editor

Department of Design, Politecnico di Milano, 20133 Milano, Italy
Interests: the assessment and evaluation of the risk and resilience of transport networks following relevant events; the implementation of electric mobility for private and collective transport and the relationship between transportation systems and territory; the planning, management, and optimization of transport systems for people and goods
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The COVID-19 pandemic has clearly highlighted the essential role played by transport and logistics in preserving well-functioning supply chains and in supporting national economies. However, it is well known that freight transport produces many negative externalities, such as pollution, congestion, and accidents, which strongly affect people’s lives. Therefore, to properly address the increasing demand of freight without negatively affecting communities, this sector will have to deal with some of the current challenges in the near future.

The biggest challenge is becoming more sustainable, both from an environmental (addressing decarbonization and energy transition processes toward zero-emission vehicles) and social point of view (addressing congestion and safety issues). Syncromodality and intermodality need to be fostered as they strengthen the role of more sustainable transport modes (i.e., rail, inland navigation, short sea and long-distance shipping). An efficient and interconnected multimodal transport system is becoming increasingly important. Moreover, in order to promptly respond to any unpredictable event that may arise, resilience and flexibility should be strengthened, with the aim of reducing the vulnerability of transport systems. Digitalization and automation also represent indispensable drivers to make transport and logistics systems more sustainable and efficient, as well as to increase their levels of safety, security and reliability. Internalization of external costs by implementing the ‘polluter pays’ and ‘user pays’ principles represents another field to be investigated. Finally, smart and innovative solutions are fundamental: out-of-the box ideas are necessary to significantly improve the current paradigm of freight transport.

To sum up, this Special Issue focuses on solutions that can help future freight transport and logistics to become smarter, safer, and more sustainable.

Dr. Claudia Caballini
Guest Editor

Dr. Antonino Canale
Dr. Angela Carboni
Dr. Fabio Borghetti
Assistant Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

efficient and interconnected multimodal transport system
post-COVID-19 freight solutions
smart solutions for sustainable transport and logistics
resilient in transport solutions
truck platooning
syncro- and intermodality
decarbonization strategies in transport and logistic
digitalization in transport and logistic systems
external costs internalization
drones for urban transport

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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25 pages, 1416 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Estimation of Appropriate Acceleration Lane Length for Safe and Efficient Truck Platooning Operation on Freeway Merge Areas

by Tanvir Uddin Chowdhury, Peter Y. Park and Kevin Gingerich

Sustainability 2022, 14(19), 12946; https://doi.org/10.3390/su141912946 - 10 Oct 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3017

Abstract

The length of an acceleration lane is one of the dominant freeway geometric design parameters. This length requires new analyses to anticipate the needs of heavy commercial vehicle (HCV) platooning. We evaluated the safety and operational impact of HCV platooning on acceleration lane length for a freeway ramp in Ontario, Canada. This study modified the 2018 AASHTO’s acceleration lane length estimation analytical model. Furthermore, this study used a VISSIM micro-simulation model and surrogated safety assessment model (SSAM) to examine the safety and operational impact on the real-world circumstances of HCV platooning at 0.6 s and 1.2 s headways and different market penetration rates of 0%, 5%, and 10%. The results suggest a minimum acceleration lane length of 600 m for platooned HCVs, which is inadequate compared to American and Canadian design guidelines. An extended acceleration lane length (600 m) will improve safety by reducing conflict by 19.2% and operational performance by reducing 3.9% of 85th percentile merging time for the operation of 5% HCV platooning with 0.6 s headway compared with 350 m acceleration lane length. This study suggests 5% of traffic containing two HCV platoons with 0.6 s headway may be reasonable for operation during certain hours of the day under existing conditions. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Resilient, Safe and Sustainable Solutions for Freight Transport and Logistics)

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16 pages, 1022 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Optimization and Machine Learning Applied to Last-Mile Logistics: A Review

by Nadia Giuffrida, Jenny Fajardo-Calderin, Antonio D. Masegosa, Frank Werner, Margarete Steudter and Francesco Pilla

Sustainability 2022, 14(9), 5329; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14095329 - 28 Apr 2022

Cited by 26 | Viewed by 9690

Abstract

The growth in e-commerce that our society has faced in recent years is changing the view companies have on last-mile logistics, due to its increasing impact on the whole supply chain. New technologies are raising users’ expectations with the need to develop customized delivery experiences; moreover, increasing pressure on supply chains has also created additional challenges for suppliers. At the same time, this phenomenon generates an increase in the impact on the liveability of our cities, due to traffic congestion, the occupation of public spaces, and the environmental and acoustic pollution linked to urban logistics. In this context, the optimization of last-mile deliveries is an imperative not only for companies with parcels that need to be delivered in the urban areas, but also for public administrations that want to guarantee a good quality of life for citizens. In recent years, many scholars have focused on the study of logistics optimization techniques and, in particular, the last mile. In addition to traditional optimization techniques, linked to the disciplines of operations research, the recent advances in the use of sensors and IoT, and the consequent large amount of data that derives from it, are pushing towards a greater use of big data and analytics techniques—such as machine learning and artificial intelligence—which are also in this sector. Based on this premise, the aim of this work is to provide an overview of the most recent literature advances related to last-mile delivery optimization techniques; this is to be used as a baseline for scholars who intend to explore new approaches and techniques in the study of last-mile logistics optimization. A bibliometric analysis and a critical review were conducted in order to highlight the main studied problems, the algorithms used, and the case studies. The results from the analysis allow the studies to be clustered into traditional optimization models, machine learning approaches, and mixed methods. The main research gaps and limitations of the current literature are assessed in order to identify unaddressed challenges and provide research suggestions for future approaches. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Resilient, Safe and Sustainable Solutions for Freight Transport and Logistics)

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19 pages, 2749 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

The Use of Drones for Last-Mile Delivery: A Numerical Case Study in Milan, Italy

by Fabio Borghetti, Claudia Caballini, Angela Carboni, Gaia Grossato, Roberto Maja and Benedetto Barabino

Sustainability 2022, 14(3), 1766; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14031766 - 3 Feb 2022

Cited by 47 | Viewed by 10883

Abstract

The increasing use of e-commerce introduces major challenges for last-mile delivery, which is critical to ensure smooth functioning of supply chains. Besides the speed and cost of delivery, which are the most important factors for last-mile logistics, environmental and social sustainability factors are taking on an increasingly important role, especially in urban areas. In this perspective, last-mile delivery by drones could be a good choice both in terms of transport speed and sustainability. Being electrically powered, drones can reduce environmental impact; moreover, they enable the reduction of road congestion since they do not interfere with land infrastructures. The goal of this study is to analyse the viability of drones for last-mile delivery in the Italian city of Milan. A stated preference survey was carried out to assess end-user propensity towards drones. Using these results, a goods delivery service by drones was designed. Furthermore, a preliminary financial analysis was performed to evaluate the benefits for a company that would provide such a transport service. Findings show that last-mile delivery by drones can be successfully used to deliver small and light packages, reducing environmental and social impacts, and ensuring profits for the transport provider. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Resilient, Safe and Sustainable Solutions for Freight Transport and Logistics)

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Other

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22 pages, 1818 KiB

Open AccessSystematic Review

Promoting Sustainability through Synchromodal Transportation: A Systematic Literature Review and Future Fields of Research

by Johannes Rentschler, Ralf Elbert and Felix Weber

Sustainability 2022, 14(20), 13269; https://doi.org/10.3390/su142013269 - 15 Oct 2022

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2002

Abstract

Synchromodal transportation is a novel multimodal transportation concept. It builds on a collaboration of shippers and logistic service providers to enable real-time switching between transport modes and mode-free transport bookings, enabling more flexible and sustainable freight transportation. This paper summarizes the current state of research since 2010 by means of a systematic literature review. A comprehensive taxonomy consisting of five dimensions and 13 categories for both qualitative and quantitative papers is developed. The results reveal a mixed picture, with high consistency in geographical areas of synchromodal transportation implementation and suitable modeling of operational disruptions and uncertainties. However, compared to multimodal or road transportation, there is little alignment in the forms of collaboration, network organization, or the advantages of synchromodal transportation. Finally, the main fields for future research are identified, namely business, legal, technological, modeling, and awareness. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Resilient, Safe and Sustainable Solutions for Freight Transport and Logistics)

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