by Walther Ploos van Amstel
Autonomous delivery robots are no longer science fiction. They’re becoming real players in last-mile logistics. Their appeal is clear: robots can cut costs, lower emissions, ease congestion, and even reach narrow streets where vans struggle. But robots come with limits too. Their range, carrying capacity, and need for regular maintenance mean they can’t replace vans …
Recent research has underscored the central role of local authorities in shaping sustainable urban logistics. Although European directives have long encouraged greener freight solutions, French planning documents have historically paid limited attention to logistics. A new study, analyzing 121 local authorities, provides fresh insights into how urban logistics is being gradually integrated into local public …
Seattle is preparing to launch the nation’s first connected network of community food micro-pantries, equipped with smart sensors to track supply and demand. The pilot, led by the Urban Freight Lab (UFL) at the University of Washington, aims to predict food needs, reduce waste, and ensure donations reach those who need them most. The initiative …
Supply chains are under increasing pressure. Globalization, shifting market demands, and sustainability requirements have made networks more complex, while traditional systems struggle with fragmented data and limited analytical tools. To remain competitive, organizations need new approaches that can capture complexity, monitor operations in real time, and support better decision-making. One of the most promising solutions …
In 2023, the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management launched an action plan to make temperature-controlled transport more sustainable. A key knowledge gap was the contribution of transport refrigeration units (TRUs) to overall emissions. To close this gap, TNO conducted an extensive measurement program on TRU emissions in real-world operations. Monitoring TRUs in practice …
How can logistics providers help shape the transition towards circular supply chains (CSCs)? To find out, a recent study focused on a single logistics service provider (LSP) through a detailed case study. By focusing on the provider’s own perspective, the research sheds light on both the hurdles and the opportunities that come with making supply …
The rapid rise of e-commerce, on-demand services, and shared mobility has transformed public space into a critical logistics and mobility infrastructure. Curbs, sidewalks, and small urban plots—once peripheral in transport policy—are now contested sites for parcel lockers, micro- and mobility hubs, and charging stations. Policy debates and research increasingly frame the curb as a scarce …
Urban logistics is under mounting pressure. Population density is rising, e-commerce is accelerating, and regulatory requirements are tightening. Traditional logistics systems, with their reliance on static planning, are increasingly inadequate. They struggle to adapt to the dynamic realities of urban environments, leading to inefficiencies, congestion, and environmental challenges. A recent paper by Liu, Pan, and …
Sustainable management of urban logistics (UL) is becoming increasingly urgent as cities grapple with rising congestion, worsening air quality, and growing e-commerce demand. Traditional freight management models—largely static and inflexible—struggle to cope with dynamic urban environments. A new study by Galkin, Švadlenka, Vrba, and Kijewska (2025) proposes a Dynamic Freight Management (DFM) framework that uses …
A recent thesis addresses one of the most pressing challenges in contemporary urban planning: how to reconcile the growing intensity of urban logistics activities with broader sustainability and livability goals. It adopts a spatial-temporal perspective on logistics operations, combining spatial analytics, machine learning, and case studies from Dutch cities. Conceptual framing The thesis rightly identifies …