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Sustainable Last Mile Logistics
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Sustainable Last Mile Logistics

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 July 2020) | Viewed by 66145

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Tamás Bányai

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute of Logistics, University of Miskolc, 3515 Miskolc-Egyetemváros, Hungary
Interests: transportation; supply chain; city logistics; optimization; logistics; Industry 4.0; intelligent transportation systems
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

First mile logistics is the first stage and last mile logistics is the last stage of the supply chain and comprises a significant part of the total delivery cost and energy consumption. Industry 4.0 technologies make it possible to reduce order fulfillment time through real-time processing of open task in a network of package delivery service providers. Therefore, the improvement of first mile and last mile logistics and a significant externalities reduction are very important challenges for researchers. Based on the importance of the energy efficiency of first mile and last mile services represented by package delivery service providers, it can be concluded that the research topic is quite relevant. The increasing importance of cost, resource and energy efficiency in supply chain solutions and the intention to find design and operation strategies were a motivation for launching this special issue.

We invite researchers in the global logistics community to contribute original research papers, as well as review articles and empirical studies, which will stimulate debate in the topic.

Potential topics include, but are not limited to the following:

  • intelligent technologies to enhance last mile connectivity;
  • simulation of large scale last mile solutions;
  • decision-making in last mile logistics;
  • information management in last mile logistics;
  • business models in sustainable last mile supply;
  • application of intelligent sensor networks in coordination of sustainable last mile logistics;
  • bicycle and car sharing systems;
  • scheduling and optimization of last mile logistics systems from energy efficiency point of view;
  • interconnected intelligent logistics for sustainability.

Assoc. Prof. Tamás Bányai
Guest Editor

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

  • energy efficiency in last mile logistics
  • optimization of last mile solutions
  • Industry 4.0 technologies in last mile supply
  • business models to increase environmental awareness of networked distribution
  • renewable energy in logistics
  • environmental, economical and social sustainability

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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19 pages, 14422 KiB  
Article
Flexible Assignment of Loading Bays for Efficient Vehicle Routing in Urban Last Mile Delivery
by Tomislav Letnik, Matej Mencinger and Iztok Peruš
Sustainability 2020, 12(18), 7500; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12187500 - 11 Sep 2020
Cited by 13 | Viewed by 2875
Abstract
Urban freight deliveries are often subject to many access restrictions which creates the need to establish a system of loading bays and to split the last mile delivery into driving and walking parts. A new model based on hard and soft clustering approach [...] Read more.
Urban freight deliveries are often subject to many access restrictions which creates the need to establish a system of loading bays and to split the last mile delivery into driving and walking parts. A new model based on hard and soft clustering approach is developed to solve the loading bay assignment problem for efficient vehicle routing and walking in last mile delivery. The flexibility of the model is provided by the soft clustering approach based on different membership degrees of customers to loading bays. Especially for instances with large numbers of loading bays, soft clustering seems to give better results, it leads to higher flexibility of city logistics systems, minimal driving distances, and adequately short walking paths, which contribute to the goal of reaching sustainable urban freight deliveries. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Last Mile Logistics)
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21 pages, 2015 KiB  
Article
An Examination of Last Mile Delivery Practices of Freight Carriers Servicing Business Receivers in Inner-City Areas
by Khalid Aljohani and Russell G. Thompson
Sustainability 2020, 12(7), 2837; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12072837 - 02 Apr 2020
Cited by 23 | Viewed by 12319
Abstract
Freight carriers experience major challenges while operating in highly dense inner-city areas. Timely deliveries are crucial for the success of businesses and for the long-term economic growth of metropolitan areas. Previous freight studies have paid little attention to the characteristics of freight movements [...] Read more.
Freight carriers experience major challenges while operating in highly dense inner-city areas. Timely deliveries are crucial for the success of businesses and for the long-term economic growth of metropolitan areas. Previous freight studies have paid little attention to the characteristics of freight movements in a highly dense urban context. Accordingly, this study sought to quantify the operational practices for freight carriers that deliver light parcels to inner-city business receivers. Direct insights were collected using semistructured interviews and an online survey with freight carriers in Melbourne, Australia. The intent was to describe the delivery trips and vehicle types involved in this unique segment. An assessment of operational challenges to the efficiency of freight carriers is presented in the study. In general, freight deliveries to inner-city receivers are characterised by underutilised transport capacity along with a large number of delivery stops. The findings shed light on the challenges that couriers encounter in congested inner-city areas. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Last Mile Logistics)
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17 pages, 8150 KiB  
Article
A Crowdsourcing Approach for Sustainable Last Mile Delivery
by Adriana Giret, Carlos Carrascosa, Vicente Julian, Miguel Rebollo and Vicente Botti
Sustainability 2018, 10(12), 4563; https://doi.org/10.3390/su10124563 - 03 Dec 2018
Cited by 36 | Viewed by 7168
Abstract
Sustainable transportation is one of the major concerns in cities. This concern involves all type of movements motivated by different goals (mobility of citizens, transportation of goods and parcels, etc.). The main goal of this work is to provide an intelligent approach for [...] Read more.
Sustainable transportation is one of the major concerns in cities. This concern involves all type of movements motivated by different goals (mobility of citizens, transportation of goods and parcels, etc.). The main goal of this work is to provide an intelligent approach for Sustainable Last Mile Delivery, by reducing (or even deleting) the need of dedicated logistic moves (by cars, and/or trucks). The method attempts to reduce the number of movements originated by the parcels delivery by taking advantage of the citizens’ movements. In this way our proposal follows a crowdsourcing approach, in which the citizens that moves in the city, because of their own needs, become temporal deliverers. The technology behind our approach relays on Multi-agent System techniques and complex network-based algorithms for optimizing sustainable delivery routes. These artificial intelligent approaches help to reduce the complexity of the scenario providing an efficient way to integrate the citizens’ routes that can be executed using the different transportation means and networks available in the city (public system, private transportation, eco-vehicles sharing systems, etc.). A complex network-based algorithm is used for computing and proposing an optimized Sustainable Last Mile Delivery route to the crowd. Moreover, the executed tests show the feasibility of the proposed solution, together with a high reduction of the CO 2 emission coming from the delivery trucks that, in the case studies, are no longer needed for delivery. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Last Mile Logistics)
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Review

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19 pages, 973 KiB  
Review
The Impact of E-Commerce-Related Last-Mile Logistics on Cities: A Systematic Literature Review
by Marta Viu-Roig and Eduard J. Alvarez-Palau
Sustainability 2020, 12(16), 6492; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12166492 - 12 Aug 2020
Cited by 76 | Viewed by 20377
Abstract
E-commerce-related last-mile logistics have a great impact on cities. Recent years have seen sustained growth in e-commerce in most developed countries, a trend that has only been reinforced by the COVID-19 pandemic. The perceived impact of this phenomenon varies depending upon the perspective [...] Read more.
E-commerce-related last-mile logistics have a great impact on cities. Recent years have seen sustained growth in e-commerce in most developed countries, a trend that has only been reinforced by the COVID-19 pandemic. The perceived impact of this phenomenon varies depending upon the perspective of the players involved: individual members of the public, companies, or the public administrations. Tackling the issue from these perspectives, the goal of this article is to explore the kinds of impact this phenomenon has and will have. We use as the basis for their classification the so-called triple bottom line (TBL) of sustainability, encompassing people, planet, and profit; we complement this with the impact classification used by the European Science Foundation’s impact assessment working group. After performing a systematic review of the literature following PRISMA guidelines, our results show that, albeit to different degrees, the four impact dimensions analyzed (economic, social, environmental, and technological) have only received incipient coverage in the existing literature. Given its ever-growing importance, we believe that greater attention needs to be paid to this phenomenon, especially with regard to those aspects having the greatest impact upon urban systems and the different stakeholders involved. Only in this way can the public policies needed to mitigate these externalities be properly implemented. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Last Mile Logistics)
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25 pages, 1182 KiB  
Review
Framework of Last Mile Logistics Research: A Systematic Review of the Literature
by John Olsson, Daniel Hellström and Henrik Pålsson
Sustainability 2019, 11(24), 7131; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11247131 - 12 Dec 2019
Cited by 104 | Viewed by 21843
Abstract
Coincident with the rapid growth of omni-channel retailing, growing urbanization, changing consumer behavior, and increasing focus on sustainability, academic interest in the area of last mile logistics has significantly increased. The growth in academic publications has been tremendous, with three out of four [...] Read more.
Coincident with the rapid growth of omni-channel retailing, growing urbanization, changing consumer behavior, and increasing focus on sustainability, academic interest in the area of last mile logistics has significantly increased. The growth in academic publications has been tremendous, with three out of four articles appearing within the past five years. The influx of research spans multiple disciplines and various methodologies, underlining the complexity and fragmentation of last mile logistics research, which leads to a lack of unity in the understanding of the concept. We provide a systematic review and classification of the literature to provide a more coherent view of last mile logistics research. The review covers 155 peer-reviewed journal publications focusing on last mile logistics. Findings demonstrate that the literature embraces a diversity of aspects and facets that are classified into five themes: emerging trends and technologies, operational optimization, supply chain structures, performance measurement, and policy. Further, we propose a framework of last mile logistics literature that comprises five components and their interrelationships, namely, last mile logistics, last mile distribution, last mile fulfillment, last mile transport, and last mile delivery. The results provide a foundation for further development of this research area by proposing avenues for future research. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Last Mile Logistics)
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