Research: the role of incentives in zero-emission last-mile deliveries in California

Last-mile deliveries usually occur within urban areas where logistics operations increase congestion and emissions, as well as associated roadway-related health impacts. A new paper evaluates the role of incentives for zero and near-zero emission vehicle (ZEV) technologies in last-mile delivery operations. Specifically, the study investigates the total cost of ownership and life cycle environmental impacts associated with …

Research: Opportunities for integration between Mobility as a Service (MaaS) and freight transport

A new paper explores the potential integration of freight transport into a Mobility as a Service (MaaS) environment. MaaS is a user-oriented service concept providing door-to-door mobility solutions for people. It integrates services of multiple providers, enabling searching, booking, and payment through a single digital platform. Although MaaS is often presented as a great opportunity …

Research: crowdsourcing hybrid fleets

Retail firms now offer same-day delivery via hybrid fleets that augment a privately owned delivery fleet with crowdsourced assets. As research on crowdsourced delivery continues to grow, it has implicitly assumed deliveries being conducted with an entirely crowdsourced fleet. In a new study by Catello et. al., researchers adopt a sociotechnical systems perspective to consider …

Research: reviewing sustainable city logistics from a capability approach perspective

Logistics movements in cities are rapidly increasing, in 2020 even further accelerated by the lockdown measures as part of mitigating COVID-19 crisis. The growth of city logistics has its effect on the livability of cities and therefore city administrations impose sustainable urban logistics plans to reduce CO2 emissions, congestion, and noise pollution. It is, however, …

Sustainable, on-demand and high-speed e-commerce fulfillment enabled by Cargoloop

Hyperloop scale-up Hardt and Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences explored how hyperloop cargo solutions (Cargoloop) can help sustainably and efficiently meet surging demand for e-commerce shipments. A new vision paper titled ‘Hyperloop for E-commerce – Sustainable, on-demand and high-speed e-commerce fulfillment enabled by Cargoloop’ was published, as a result of joined concept development and E-commerce …

Digital smart zones help manage crowded urban streets

Exploding demand for curb space in urban areas has inspired new technologies like ‘digital smart zones’ that help cities manage those narrow but increasingly valuable tracts of real estate. Allowing delivery trucks to automatically reserve the precise chunk of concrete they need (two minutes from now or for the next two hours) helps keep traffic …

Flash delivery in Amsterdam is causing problems

Delivery companies such as Gorillas, Getir, and Zapp promise to deliver groceries within 10 minutes even 24 hours a day. In recent months, these companies have hired hundreds of new couriers to deliver on the promise of fast hyperlocal delivery in Amsterdam. The popularity of these fast shopping services is growing, but so are the …