by Walther Ploos van Amstel
Parcel delivery has been subject to significant paradigm shifts over recent decades, caused by urbanization. The economic development in the mid-1990s led to the rise of faster-growing medium-large-sized companies that specialized in the delivery of small parcels, giving birth to the Global Courier, Express, and Parcel (CEP) market.
In previous decades the postal sector experienced drastic changes. Liberalization and digitization resulted in a continuous mail market decline. Simultaneously the booming e-commerce parcel delivery market requires Postal Operators (POs) to rigorously restructure their delivery networks to reduce distribution costs. POs are evaluating synergy opportunities between the mail and parcel delivery network.
The Cargo Sous Terrain (CST) project is an innovative transport project in Switzerland. Over the next 25 years, an underground freight transport system is to be built across Switzerland; from Geneva to St. Gallen. Self-propelled vehicles are to transport pallets and containers from the logistics centers to the cities.
Renault, Nissan, and Waymo have entered into an agreement to explore driverless mobility services for passengers and deliveries in France and Japan. The agreement marks a first step to developing long-term driverless mobility services operations.
In major cities, almost one in four retail spaces is HoReCa and his number is increasing. Thousands of HoReCa entrepreneurs receive their products from many small distributors every day. As a result, the HoReCa distribution of food services is growing fast. Researchers from the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences did research into HoReCa distribution in Amsterdam and offer …
During the International City Logistics Conference, 2019 Hans Quak (TNO NL) presented his research on lessons learned of 10 years of Binnenstadservice. In the Netherlands, Binnenstadservice (BSS) runs UCCs and UCC services for over a decade now. The research discusses the development and the experiences of running a UCC in practice in the form of lessons learned.
The e-commerce sector is working on sustainable deliveries of online orders. The delivery vans now quickly become electric. They try to deliver first-time-right. Focus on fewer returns. And, the warehouses are super sustainable. But how many large boxes are not delivered carrying only one silly little product?
Truck drivers have the highest overall exposure to air pollution and yet are being overlooked in the air quality debate, according to scientists at King’s College London. Research by UK environmental charity Hubbub in cooperation with the King’s College and The Times examined how poor air quality affected people living and working in London.
During the International City Logistics Conference, 2019 Ron van Duin (TUDelft, Netherlands) presented his research parcels lockers in the Amsterdam De Pijp district. Currently, parcels are being delivered with large delivery vans which will usually deliver single parcels to doorsteps of their customers. The last mile is the most expensive logistics activity. In the literature, it is proposed that …
During the International City Logistics Conference 2019 Matthew J. Roorda (University of Toronto) presented his research on vehicle routing problems (VRP) with movement synchronization of drones, sidewalk robots, or foot-walkers (the ‘driver helper’). The VRP extension with movement synchronization (VRPMS) has potential applications of drone and robot technologies to assist with the delivery of parcels.