by Walther Ploos van Amstel
A major peer-reviewed study published this week in Nature Cities maps last-mile delivery emissions across 365 Chinese cities using data from 14 billion orders and 1.9 million couriers. The research finds that order growth does not translate proportionally into emissions: an 83.5% increase in orders from 2023 to 2024 resulted in only a 31.3% rise …
Summary of: Kokkinou, A., Quak, H. & Mitas, O. (2026). “Leveraging fairness to nudge consumers towards more sustainable last mile delivery options.” Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives, 37, 101956. Every time a consumer clicks “next-day delivery,” they make a choice with real urban consequences; more vans, more congestion, more emissions. Getting consumers to voluntarily choose slower, …
A new paper seeks to identify the most preferred sustainable last-mile delivery business models among e-customers and assess their environmental, economic, and social impacts. The authors surveyed to achieve this and utilized conjoint analysis, the Delphi method, and the MCDM: Promethee-Gaia. The findings reveal that price is the most critical factor influencing e-customers’ delivery methods. …