A Review of Last Mile Logistics Innovations in an Externalities Cost Reduction Vision

Luigi Ranieri, Salvatore Digiesi, Bartolomeo Silvestri and Michele Roccotelli
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Luigi Ranieri: Department of Innovation and Engineering, Università del Salento, 73100 Lecce, Italy
Salvatore Digiesi: Department of Mechanics, Mathematics and Management, Politecnico di Bari, 70126 Bari, Italy
Bartolomeo Silvestri: Department of Mechanics, Mathematics and Management, Politecnico di Bari, 70126 Bari, Italy
Michele Roccotelli: Department of Electrical and Information Engineering, Politecnico di Bari, 70126 Bari, Italy

Sustainability, 2018, vol. 10, issue 3, 1-18

Abstract: In this paper, a review of the recent scientific literature contributions on innovative strategies for last mile logistics, focusing on externalities cost reduction, is presented. Transport is causing problems in urban areas, in particular in freight transport: modern cities need solutions to reduce externalities costs such as congestion, pollution and others, which have increased in the last few years, especially due to the growth of goods delivery. Online sales and globalization lead to new trends in freight transport, and moreover, a larger quantity of goods is expected to be delivered in the next future. In this context, most of the delivered goods end up in the city centers. Last mile logistics is the least efficient stage of the supply chain and comprises up to 28% of the total delivery cost. Therefore, the improvement of last mile logistics and a significant externalities reduction are very important challenges for researchers. New technologies and transport means, innovative techniques and organizational strategies allow handling in a more effective way the last mile delivery in urban areas. Based on the Systematic Literature Review (SLR) method, recent papers that significantly contributed, with original proposals, to the reduction of externalities in urban logistics are identified and analyzed in this work. Furthermore, a classification of the papers dealing with the externality reduction problem is presented. It is consistent with a general formulation proposed to evaluate external costs in urban area. The innovative contributions are classified into five main categories: innovative vehicles, proximity stations or points, collaborative and cooperative urban logistics, optimization of transport management and routing, innovations in public policies and infrastructures. The new paradigm of smart logistics is based on the combination of these concepts and on the proposed innovations.

Keywords: urban logistics; last mile delivery; smart cities; transport externalities; Systematic Literature Review (SLR) (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (86)

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