The Adoption of Green Vehicles in Last Mile Logistics: A Systematic Review

Sergio Maria Patella, Gianluca Grazieschi, Valerio Gatta, Edoardo Marcucci and Stefano Carrese
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Sergio Maria Patella: Faculty of Economics, Universitas Mercatorum, Piazza Mattei, 10, 00186 Rome, Italy
Gianluca Grazieschi: Department of Engineering, Roma Tre University, Via Vito Volterra 62, 00146 Rome, Italy
Valerio Gatta: Department of Political Science, Roma Tre University, Via Gabriello Chiabrera 199, 00145 Rome, Italy
Edoardo Marcucci: Department of Political Science, Roma Tre University, Via Gabriello Chiabrera 199, 00145 Rome, Italy
Stefano Carrese: Department of Engineering, Roma Tre University, Via Vito Volterra 62, 00146 Rome, Italy

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 13, issue 1, 1-29

Abstract: Widespread adoption of green vehicles in urban logistics may contribute to the alleviation of problems such as environmental pollution, global warming, and oil dependency. However, the current adoption of green vehicles in the last mile logistics is relatively low despite many actions taken by public authorities to overcome the negative externalities of distributing goods in cities. This paper presents a comprehensive literature review on studies investigating the adoption of green vehicles in urban freight transportation, paying specific attention to e-commerce. To shed light on the adoption of green vehicles in city logistics, the paper conducts a systematic review of the empirical literature on the topic. The 159 articles reviewed were classified into the following: (a) Optimization and scheduling (67 papers); (b) policy (55 papers); (c) sustainability (37 papers). Among the 159 articles, a further selection of 17 papers dealing with e-commerce, i.e., studies that highlight the most relevant aspects related to the integration of green vehicles in e-commerce urban logistics, was performed. Our findings indicate that green vehicles are competitive in urban deliveries characterized by frequent stop-and-go movements and low consolidation levels while incentives are still necessary for their adoption. The use of autonomous vehicles results the most promising and challenging solution for last-mile logistics.

Keywords: last mile logistics; green logistics; urban freight; e-commerce; green vehicles; drones; autonomous vehicles (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (10)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2020:i:1:p:6-:d:466166

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