by Walther Ploos van Amstel
Fleet electrification is usually told as a technology story: replace the diesel van, optimize the route, tick the zero-emission box. Hyunji Chang’s paper in Mobilities tells a different story. Sustainable last-mile delivery is not simply implemented. It is assembled, day by day, by the people who do the work. Chang studied PostNL’s rollout of light …
DHL, together with Chinese autonomous-vehicle startup Zelostech, has put fully electric, driverless vehicles into operation to move goods between hubs, sorting centers and warehouses. At its Advanced Regional Center (ARC) in Singapore, this marks the first DHL site globally where such a vehicle has moved from innovation trial to daily operational use. The focus isn’t …
While PostEurop spends its lobbying efforts arguing the parcel market is “already competitive,” the real competitive battle has quietly moved up a layer, to platforms such as Sendcloud, nShift, Packlink, Parcel International and Seven Senders. These platforms now sit between the merchant and the carrier, holding the rate comparisons, the routing rules, the tracking data, …
Amsterdam’s Wallen district is a policy laboratory whether we plan it that way or not: narrow streets, fragile quay walls, dense hospitality, and a constant stream of vehicles nobody particularly wants there. For years, “lighter vehicles in the historic center” has been a slogan more than a practice. Oscar Circulair, a waste and resource collector …
Here are some of the most notable international city logistics items from recent weeks and months: UPS restructures its UK last mile. UPS wants to reduce its UK workforce by transferring last-mile delivery to outside couriers, which would significantly change the labor landscape for legacy parcel carriers; arguably the clearest sign yet that the integrator …
A new McKinsey analysis describes the US distribution sector as entering a phase of “permanent volatility,” with AI acting as the defining force. While the findings focus on US distributors, the structural shifts—digital expectations, M&A dynamics, and the erosion of traditional advantages—carry clear implications for city logistics and supply chain players globally. Theme 1: AI …
Lidl Netherlands is setting a world first: by 2027, the supermarket chain will replenish all its stores entirely by electric transport — the first retailer anywhere in the world to do so. The original 2030 target has been brought forward by three years, a milestone announced at the opening of a new fast-charging hub in …
Amazon’s European footprint just got significantly larger. The e-commerce and cloud giant invested a record € 60+ billion across Europe in 2025, including over €40 billion within the EU alone. For those working in city logistics and last-mile delivery, the ripple effects are hard to ignore. Jobs, infrastructure, and supply chains Amazon now supports over …
When logistics professionals discuss supply chain innovation, companies such as Amazon, Zara, and Walmart usually dominate the conversation. Yet one of the most sophisticated supply chain innovators today may be a company better known for meal kits than logistics: HelloFresh. Behind its weekly deliveries lies one of the world’s most advanced food supply chains. Over …
We all know the reflex: the washing machine stutters, the phone screen cracks, or the e-bike loses its punch — and we immediately start browsing for a replacement. But a 2026 study by TNO and the Dutch Association for Circular Economy (NVCE) shows this instinct is costing consumers real money. Choosing repair or refurbishment keeps …