Rethinking last-mile logistics post-COVID-19

COVID-19 is generating short-term disruptions and longer-term structural changes, with e-commerce experiencing soaring growth in categories like groceries and home care. Last-mile success will be tough, but getting it wrong could be catastrophic. Eric Hannon, Bernd Heid, Anja Huber, and Christoph Klink of McKinsey & Company present their vision in Automotive World.

Research: viable business models for city logistics

Pålsson and Katsela published a paper with the title ‘Viable business models for city logistics: Exploring the cost structure and the economy of scale in a Swedish initiative’ in Research in Transportation Economics journal. This paper addresses the challenge of achieving profitable city logistics initiatives.

Research: the TCO of hydrogen vehicles in urban logistics – diesel and BEV still win

Freight transport accounts for 8 to 15% of total traffic flow in urban areas within the European Union. The majority of these deliveries are undertaken by diesel-powered vehicles with disproportionate levels of CO2, NOx, and particulate matter emissions. Accordingly, a variety of strategic options have been advanced as key solutions for addressing fossil fuel demand …

A Guide for 21st Century Cities of Making

The Cities of Making project releases its book ‘Foundries of the Future: A Guide for 21st Century Cities of Making‘. The book aims to show that despite perceptions, manufacturing is not in terminal decay in western cities. On the contrary, it is at the opening of a new chapter. Urban manufacturing and logistics is helping …

Microhubs defined

Research by Urban Freight Lab of Supply Chain Transportation & Logistics Center (University of Washington) revealed a lack of an established and widely accepted definition for the concept of consolidation centers or microhubs. Many recent implementations of urban freight consolidation have focused on bundling goods close to the delivery point by creating logistical platforms in …

Dutch Flitsmeister introducing crowd logistics

Dutch Flitsmeister Pickup connects the local retailer to a community of 1.7 million loyal users. This enables the retailer to deliver quickly and efficiently. In addition, the user can lend a hand and earn some extra money. Flitsmeister warns drivers about speed cameras, saves fines, and provides real-time traffic information and now: Flitsmeister Pickup.

Optimizing the changing locations of mobile parcel lockers

To reduce congestion, environmental damage, and negative health impact in large urban areas plenty of novel concepts for last-mile distribution have been innovated in recent years. The concept treated in this paper is mobile parcel lockers that are able to change their locations during the day, either autonomously or moved by a human driver.