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Shipping outside the box. Environmental impact and stakeholder analysis of a crowd logistics platform in Belgium
Abstract
Crowd logistics is an alternative to traditional home deliveries by parcel companies and is believed to be more sustainable. The idea of crowd logistics is that parcels and passengers are co-transported along a passenger trip that was intended to be made for another purpose. Due to the novelty of this concept and the fact that existing crowd logistics platforms are continuously changing, knowledge on the actual impact of crowd logistics is limited. To gain insight in crowd logistics’ environmental impact and the involved stakeholders, we apply two methods. First, an impact analysis based on data of an operational crowd logistics platform in Belgium. We compare the external costs imposed on society when delivering a parcel with crowd logistics and with more traditional ways of transport. Second, an analysis of stakeholder support for crowd logistics, by applying a multi-actor multi-criteria analysis or MAMCA. The findings indicate that current platform use results in higher external transport costs and thus a higher environmental impact, when compared to traditional parcel delivery. Although the concept receives support from the main stakeholders, societal objectives are not met. A critical role in improving crowd logistics’ impact is reserved for the platform provider, who can adjust the platform operation and incentivisation to steer efficient vehicle use. Future research efforts can be allocated to other types of crowd logistics platforms and non-urban application of the concept.
... Generally, it hires a large number of participants coordinated by technological infrastructure to do logistical activities (Mehmann et al., 2015). Crowd logistics has piqued practitioner interest, increasing the number of start-ups and platforms (Rai et al., 2018). Uber, Lyft and Grab are considered pioneers and have become the most successful crowd logistics providers for passenger transportation (Devari et al., 2017). ...
... To date, several studies have examined crowdsourced delivery. Most of these studies concentrated on defining the concept and characteristics (Carbone et al., 2017;Frehe et al., 2017;Rai et al., 2018), demonstrating the benefits and opportunities (Dablanc et al., 2017;Devari et al., 2017) and analysing the stakeholders' roles (Rai et al., 2017;. Whilst these studies have provided numerous insights, mostly focussed on developed countries from North America and Europe that have made significant investments in sustainable development. ...
... However, few publications have addressed the sustainable development of crowd logistics. The majority of previous research concentrated on defining the concept and characteristics of crowd logistics (Carbone et al., 2017;Rai et al., 2018) and demonstrating the benefits and opportunities of crowd logistics (Dablanc et al., 2017;Devari et al., 2017). Therefore, this study contributes to the literature on crowd logistics, especially in developing countries where lastmile delivery is booming and sustainable logistics is an unsolved problem. ...
Purpose
Crowd logistics is a rising phenomenon in last-mile delivery that integrates technological applications and sources a large number of participants to do logistical activities, achieving sustainable shipping in urban environments. However, up until now, there has been limited literature in this field. This research aims to investigate the extrinsic and intrinsic factors that impact the participative behaviour of driver-partners in crowd logistics.
Design/methodology/approach
An integrated model is developed based on motivation theory, incorporating attitude as a contributor to both extrinsic and intrinsic motivations. A questionnaire was constructed and distributed to collect data from 303 respondents who are existing or potential driver-partners in Vietnam.
Findings
Our findings confirm (1) the influence of monetary rewards on extrinsic motivation and (2) the power of self-efficacy, trust and sense of belonging on intrinsic motivation. Further, we find that attitude positively impacts extrinsic motivation, whereas there is no effect between attitude and intrinsic motivation. Both extrinsic and intrinsic motivations are demonstrated to significantly influence driver-partners' participative intentions. Additionally, a positive association is found between extrinsic and intrinsic motivations.
Originality/value
Findings from this study theoretically enrich the literature on crowd logistics, especially on the supply side, and empirically contribute to implications that are valuable to crowd logistics firms on driver-partner recruitment and business strategy development.
... CL is a subset of an umbrella term known as 'sharing economy,' which is a disruptive and transformative economic model principally based on shared consumption of resources (Belk, 2014). The primary stakeholders in CL are parcel senders and receivers (who may be the same in some cases) (Buldeo Rai et al., 2018), platform providers (who co-ordinate demand and supply), the conventional logistics service providers (LSPs) (Carbone et al., 2017), and the crowd, which can consist of acquaintances and friends (Devari et al., 2017), in-store employees (Boysen et al., 2022), pizza delivery drivers (Paloheimo et al., 2016) as well as students (Giuffrida et al., 2021;Marcucci et al., 2017). The society (inclusive of governments) is the final stakeholder of CL as it is affected by all logistics-related implications (Buldeo Rai et al., 2017). ...
... CL platforms cater to logistics service requirements in different business contexts, such as business to consumer, business to business, and consumer to consumer (Buldeo Rai et al., 2018). The most critical challenge faced by CL platforms is keeping the platform economically viable while providing a sufficient number of delivery trips to the crowd workers (Schreieck et al., 2016). ...
... Paloheimo et al. (2016) report absolute reductions in natural resource consumption and environmental effect based on their trial with crowdsourced library deliveries in Finland. However, the crowd's transportation behavior (reduction in dedicated delivery trips) and the modal choice (such as bicycles) will affect the overall environmental impact of CL (Buldeo Rai et al., 2018). From the perspective of parcel senders, who can be prominent ecommerce players like Amazon (Carbone et al., 2017) or small local businesses (Schreieck et al., 2016), CL can reduce transportation costs for last-mile deliveries (Ballare & Lin, 2020;Mladenow et al., 2016). ...
... Instant delivery services can be performed by retailers themselves or by service providers that serve a wide variety of businesses (Yeo, Goh and Rezaei, 2017). Moreover, instant delivery by peer-to-peer applications is a consequence of the sharing economy (Buldeo Rai, Verlinde and Macharis, 2018;Tavasszy, 2020;Seghezzi et al., 2021) and a subcategory of crowd shipping (Dablanc et al., 2017). Crowd shipping, in turn, is part of the shared economy trend with the addition of technological resources, where the people offer their available time and vehicle to perform delivery (Buldeo Rai, Verlinde and Macharis, 2018). ...
... Moreover, instant delivery by peer-to-peer applications is a consequence of the sharing economy (Buldeo Rai, Verlinde and Macharis, 2018;Tavasszy, 2020;Seghezzi et al., 2021) and a subcategory of crowd shipping (Dablanc et al., 2017). Crowd shipping, in turn, is part of the shared economy trend with the addition of technological resources, where the people offer their available time and vehicle to perform delivery (Buldeo Rai, Verlinde and Macharis, 2018). Thus, crowd shipping is a network of people with the time and resources available for urban deliveries (Buldeo Rai, Verlinde and Macharis, 2018). ...
... Crowd shipping, in turn, is part of the shared economy trend with the addition of technological resources, where the people offer their available time and vehicle to perform delivery (Buldeo Rai, Verlinde and Macharis, 2018). Thus, crowd shipping is a network of people with the time and resources available for urban deliveries (Buldeo Rai, Verlinde and Macharis, 2018). Furthermore, the sharing economy contributes to workforce exchanges by using online apps or platforms (Belanche et al., 2021). ...
Este artigo tem por objetivo identificar a relação da taxa de entrega e da remuneração dos entregadores de aplicativos em cidades brasileiras. Os dados referentes à taxa de entrega e à distância percorrida foram obtidos nos principais aplicativos de entrega para oito cidades brasileiras, dentre elas cinco capitais e 3 cidades do interior. Foi utilizado regressão linear para identificar uma relação entre a taxa de entrega e a distância. Os resultados mostraram diferença na taxa fixa e na taxa variável de entrega entre as cidades consideradas na análise. Para obtenção de uma remuneração básica, isto é, o salário-mínimo, o entregador precisa trabalhar mais de 44 horas semanais, realizando pelo menos uma entrega por hora a uma distância de 3km. Contudo, esta jornada de trabalho pode ser extenuante se as entregas forem realizadas por modos não motorizados.
... Reference [13] explore the primary criteria for selecting logistics platforms, with providing detailed evaluations of cost and delivery speed. From an environmental sustainability perspective, references [14,15] examine how CL can mitigate environmental impacts, contributing to more sustainable logistics practices. Reference [16] prioritizes stakeholder concerns in implementing CL solutions in urban areas, emphasizing ecological sustainability. ...
... where, f (K − i ) is the utility function in relation to the anti-ideal solution, while f (K + i ) is the utility function in relation to the ideal solution, using Eqs. (14) and (15). ...
Crowd logistics (CL) represents an innovative model within the logistics sector, leveraging the participation of individuals to enhance service provision, optimize resource utilization, and reduce operational costs. Among the various applications of CL, crowd distribution has emerged as one of the most prevalent methods. This study introduces a Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) framework for the selection of CL platforms, examining key factors that contribute to their success. A comprehensive review of relevant literature and an in-depth analysis of both domestic and global platforms were conducted, revealing critical performance indicators for successful platform implementation. The Step-wise Weight Assessment Ratio Analysis (SWARA) and Measurement of Alternatives and Ranking according to Compromise Solution (MARCOS) methods were employed to evaluate essential criteria, including cost efficiency, delivery speed, reliability, environmental sustainability, flexibility, and customer support quality. The results of this analysis demonstrate that platforms such as Company 1, Company 2, and Company 3 have achieved market dominance in Serbia, attributed to their optimal balance across these performance criteria. This study's proposed model serves as a practical tool for businesses and consumers seeking to select the most suitable CL platforms, while also providing actionable insights for further enhancement of logistics systems. The findings contribute to the growing body of knowledge on CL, highlighting the importance of comprehensive evaluation in the selection process.
... Zhang and Ma's research results indicated that the level of logistics service platforms has a certain impact on consumers' purchasing behavior [29]. Based on an analysis of data from a Belgian transport platform, Rai et al. found that the use of logistics platforms leads to higher external transportation costs [30]. Lu et al. studied heterogeneous delivery tasks on a hybrid logistics platform and constructed a new mixed integer programming model [31]. ...
... Using the experimental method, the range of u is determined to be [1.36, 1.4]; using the subjective method, the range of u is determined to be u ≈ 1.37 [30]. Considering the objectivity of the decision process, in this paper, an experimental method is adopted to determine the range of [1.36, 1.4]. ...
In existing logistics online-to-offline (O2O) platform decision activities, psychological behavioral behaviors of logistics demanders and suppliers have become increasingly complex, and the required information also involves a great deal of uncertainty and vagueness. Hence, a two-sided matching (TSM) method considering multiple psychological behavioral behaviors and the intermediary benefit is proposed. First, a one-to-many supply–demand matching problem on online platform with multiple fuzzy preferences is described. To solve this problem, a novel weight-solving algorithm considering subjectivity and objectivity is developed. Matching utility values are determined according to the prospect theory and attribute weights. Based on desired matching numbers between logistics supply and demand agents and matching utility values, a unilateral expected matching model is constructed. Then, the expected matching matrix is obtained. By using regret theory, agent satisfaction is calculated according to the expected matching matrix. A novel formula considering risk preference coefficients is developed to calculate the intermediary benefit. Moreover, a one-to-many TSM model is established to maximize agent satisfactions of two-sided agents and the intermediary benefit. To obtain a reasonable logistics service matching scheme, a novel max–min algorithm considering fairness is developed. Finally, the rationality, effectiveness and practicality of the proposed method are verified through a one-to-many matching example on a logistics O2O platform.
... Consequently, there is an issue of greenwashing that needs to be addressed. Another strategy to decrease environmental pollution is crowdsourced delivery or options, where citizens take over the delivery of goods along their way (Paloheimo et al., 2016;Buldeo Rai et al., 2018;Guo et al., 2019). The environmental impact depends on the offered services (Buldeo Rai et al., 2018;Pålsson et al., 2017). ...
... Another strategy to decrease environmental pollution is crowdsourced delivery or options, where citizens take over the delivery of goods along their way (Paloheimo et al., 2016;Buldeo Rai et al., 2018;Guo et al., 2019). The environmental impact depends on the offered services (Buldeo Rai et al., 2018;Pålsson et al., 2017). ...
Many consumers expect e-commerce home delivery to be sustainable and fast. To better understand the dilemma behind these requirements, we analyzed e-commerce players' practices and assessed consumers' preferences for home delivery using a mixed-methods approach. We used exploratory structured interviews with logistics and e-commerce companies to reveal their home delivery options, and a discrete choice experiment (DCE) with 400 consumers to identify their home delivery preferences. Our study provides new insights into consumer expectations and preferences regarding home delivery solutions offered by e-commerce companies. Our findings provide empirical evidence of consumer expectations regarding individualization, innovation, and sustainable service alternatives for home delivery. Our results indicate that delivery speed is the most desired home delivery attribute, followed by delivery options, reusable packaging, and delivery by electric delivery vehicles.
... Organizational: Involves operational decisions of transport companies or shippers, including the definition of both centralized and decentralized storage systems, development and implementation of intermodal transport [37], use of urban mobile warehouses for deliveries and pickups [55][56][57][58], micro-hubs in parking lots [59], route planning for vehicles [47,60,61], after-hours deliveries, [51,59,62,63], overnight deliveries [52,53,61,64,65], use of shared vehicles or deliveries [50,52,54,[65][66][67], supply consolidation [34,46,68], crowdsourcing [58,69], location alternatives for freight distribution centers [41,44,[70][71][72][73][74][75], and load unit standardization [74]. ...
... Technological development: Seeks to promote innovative technology implementation strategies, which include the connection of information on transported goods and delivery locations with road traffic data, implementation of web-based tools to optimize distribution flows [52], grouping flows using web platforms [50,68], infrastructure for the implementation of vehicle access restriction, systems for logistics management and route optimization [61], surveillance systems to allow vehicle inspection [49], freight transport communication systems [67], demand and access management systems, traffic management systems, safety and emergency systems, smart public transportation systems, lane management systems, parking management systems, road and weather tracking sensors, electronic detection systems [39], and introduction of new technologies into existing logistics systems [76]. ...
The tension between city logistics and its impact on sustainable urban development is evident. Often, local environmental decisions overlook the effects on urban freight logistics, lacking consideration for stakeholders. To address this, utilizing multi-criteria analysis becomes relevant for informed urban planning and management decision making. In this context, this paper conducts a systematic literature review from 2012 to 2022, focused on implementing the multi-criteria analysis methodology to evaluate alternatives for solutions in urban freight logistics. The PRISMA tool was used in the review to select publications and categorize the information obtained to address the research questions. Results display the most prominent authors and publications, authors’ country affiliations, annual publication frequency, research objectives, used frameworks, involved actors, defined evaluation criteria, types of alternatives for solutions considered, and MCDM methods applied. The main finding is that the most commonly used MCDM methods were AHP hybrid followed by MAMCA. In addition, no clear correlation between the pursued objectives and the MCDM methods employed by the researchers is identified. It is important to note that all publications with the highest number of citations use fuzzy methods in their analyses.
... Given the different scope of the trips, CS services are available for both urban (Punel and Stathopoulos, 2017) and long-distance travel (Fly and Fetch, 2019). Given the problems of last-mile logistics, CS is first expected to address the e-shoppers' demand for urban supplies and provide a solution for deconsolidated last-mile deliveries (Buldeo Rai et al., 2018;Pourrahmani and Jaller, 2021). ...
... CS is a new business model and it is not yet reached widely used, so evaluation of the possible impacts of CS deliveries on transport networks and urban areas remains challenging. There have been a number of studies that have examined the possible consequences of CS deliveries (Buldeo Rai et al., 2018;Chen and Chankov, 2018;Gatta et al., 2019;Dötterl et al., 2020;Simoni et al., 2020;Pourrahmani and Jaller, 2021;Tapia et al., 2023), and some have provided more comprehensive and complex evaluations utilizing agent-based behaviour (Chen and Chankov, 2018;Dötterl et al., 2020;Alho et al., 2021;Simoni et al., 2020;Tapia et al., 2023). Agent-based behaviour approaches make it possible to construct large-scale models with a high level detail in the modelled agents, and the revealed results are thus quite close to the realistic picture observedor assumed to be so (Balmer et al., 2006). ...
This paper examines the mode choice behaviour of people who may act as occasional couriers to provide crowd-shipping (CS) deliveries. Given its recent increase in popularity, online grocery services have become the main market for crowd-shipping deliveries' provider. The study included a behavioural survey, PTV Visum simulations and discrete choice behaviour modelling based on random utility maximization theory. Mode choice behaviour was examined by considering the gender heterogeneity of the occasional couriers in a multimodal urban transport network. The behavioural dataset was collected in the city of Kharkiv, Ukraine, at the beginning of 2021. The results indicated that women were willing to provide CS service with 8% less remuneration than men. Women were also more likely to make 10% longer detours by car and metro than men, while male couriers were willing to implement 25% longer detours when travelling by bike or walking. Considering the integration of CS detours into the couriers' routine trip chains, women couriers were more likely to attach the CS trip to the work-shopping trip chain whilst men would use the home-home evening time trip chain. The estimated marginal probability effect indicated a higher detour time sensitivity with respect to expected profit and the relative detour costs of the couriers.
... On the other hand, some authors have adopted a sustainability perspective, focusing on the negative impacts linked to commercial transportation. In this research area, Rai et al. [33] analyzed the environmental performance of crowd logistics by applying a multi-criteria analysis involving diverse stakeholders; additionally, the authors considered different social, environmental, and economic externalities, such as traffic congestion, pollutant emissions, use of non-renewable natural resources, noise, accidents and accessibility and the high costs of the last mile, among others. Finally, Pourrahmani and Jaller [34] analyzed the challenges and opportunities of crowdshipping service logistics and discussed several sustainability concerns, highlighting carbon emissions, cost savings, working conditions of the employees, driving behaviors, social equity, infrastructure, and the environmental benefits of clean modes of transportation. ...
... Considering the topics and research gaps that the authors of the aforementioned articles have indicated, this study aims to cover diverse issues related to instant delivery services. These issues have been comprehensively addressed from a sustainability perspective [33,34] that is especially required in an emerging market [35] such as Mexico, including improvement in the efficiency of CVs in two-echelon vehicle routing, calculation of the energy consumed, and the use of cleaner modes of transportation [34] by combining electric bicycles and electric VAN to reduce traffic congestion and emissions. ...
Big cities affected by intense mobility, traffic and pollution are adopting electrification-based solutions for the reduction of the CO2 emissions of combustion engines. An interesting field in which the transition toward electrification can achieve important benefits is the area of instant deliveries. Instant deliveries deal with the mobility related to commercial trades between suppliers and customers. In this respect, optimal solutions can be considered during route planning based on the minimization of several metrics, such as distance, energy and road slope, among others. To this end, this paper presents an optimal solution to the instant deliveries problem in which the result is the optimal route, in the city under study, that minimizes energy consumption based on road slope and total distance traveled, and that gives higher priority to routes that include cycling infrastructure that the city can provide. The paper uses electric bikes since they are easily transportable and are highly versatile for instant deliveries. The results obtained were compared to a previous version of the optimal algorithm already published by the authors which minimizes the Haversine and Euclidian distances only. It was found that the shortest distance travelled between customers does not necessarily imply the least energy consumption. The latter, in combination with an energy consumption estimation approach, represent the original contribution of the work.
... CL partners can reach customer destinations by slightly modifying their traditional route or by simply walking or cycling, in this way avoiding traffic congestion. As stated by a wide range of studies [10][11][12][13][14], the parcels containing the goods are delivered by logistics couriers to specific transfer points and then transferred to the final customer destinations by crowd partners. Among the benefits conferred by adopting this strategy is the ease of recruiting potential CL partners, as the working area is local and the resources needed are traditionally owned by ordinary people. ...
... The main result of the paper was the identification of four relevant steps that companies should follow to implement sustainable CL. Rai et al. [13] performed an analysis to gain insights into CL's environmental impact and the involved stakeholders through two main methods, i.e., an impact analysis using data from a CL platform in Belgium, and an analysis of stakeholder support for CL using a multiactor multicriteria approach. The results mainly highlighted that the current platform led to a higher external transport cost and environmental impact compared to a traditional parcel delivery system. ...
Nowadays, last-mile logistics represents the least efficient stage of supply chains, covering up to 28% of the total delivery cost and causing significant environmental emissions. In the last few years, a wide range of collaborative economy business models has emerged across the globe, rapidly changing the way services were traditionally provided and consumed. Crowd logistics (CL) is a new strategy for supporting fast shipping services, entrusting the management of the last-mile delivery to the crowd, i.e., normal people, who agree to deliver goods to customers located along the route they have to travel, using their own transport means, in exchange for a small reward. Most existing studies have focused on evaluating the opportunities and challenges provided by CL through theoretical analysis and literature reviews, while others have proposed models for designing such emerging distribution networks. However, papers analyzing real successful applications of CL worldwide are lacking, despite being in high demand. This study attempted to fill this gap by providing, at first, an overview of real CL applications around the globe to set the stage for future successful implementations. Then, the implementation potential of CL in northern Italy was assessed through a structured questionnaire delivered to a panel of 214 people from the Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna (Italy) to map the feasibility of a crowd-based system in this area. The results revealed that about 91% of the interviewees were interested in using this emerging delivery system, while the remaining respondents showed some concern about the protection of their privacy and the safeguarding of the goods during transport. A relevant percentage of the interviewees were available to join the system as occasional drivers (ODs), with a compensation policy preference for a fixed fee per delivery rather than a variable reward based on the extra distance traveled to deliver the goods.
... Thereby, they present a cost-effective alternative to dedicated drivers (DDs), who are employed or contracted through a third-party logistics provider. This OD approach, leveraging existing store traffic, offers not only economic benefits (Archetti et al. 2016;Dayarian and Savelsbergh 2020) but also aids in reducing pollution and urban traffic, while enhancing community ties (Buldeo Rai et al. 2018;Hutter and Neumann 2023). However, the unpredictability of ODs, influenced by factors like the frequency of store visits and their fluctuating willingness to undertake deliveries on that day, poses a significant challenge. ...
Amid the rapid growth of online retail, last-mile delivery faces significant challenges, including the cost-effective delivery of goods to all delivery locations. Our work contributes to this stream by applying dynamic pricing techniques to effectively model the possible involvement of the crowd in fulfilling delivery tasks. The use of occasional drivers (ODs) as a viable, cost-effective alternative to traditional dedicated drivers (DDs) prompts the necessity to focus on the inherent challenge posed by the uncertainty of ODs’ arrival times and willingness to perform deliveries. We introduce a dynamic programming framework that offers individualized bundles of a delivery task and compensation to ODs as they arrive. This model, akin to a reversed form of dynamic pricing, accounts for ODs’ decision-making by treating their acceptance thresholds as a random variable. Therefore, our model addresses the dynamic and stochastic nature of OD availability and decision-making. We analytically solve the stage-wise optimization problem, outline inherent challenges such as the curses of dimensionality, and present structural properties. Tailored to meet these challenges, our approximation methods aim to accurately determine avoided costs, which are a key factor in calculating optimal compensation. Our simulation study reveals that the savings generated by involving ODs in deliveries can be significantly increased through our individualized dynamic compensation policy. This approach not only excels in generating savings for the firm but also provides a utility surplus for ODs. Additionally, we demonstrate the applicability of our approach to scenarios with time windows and illustrate the trade-off that arises from time window partitioning.
... Gatta et al. [18] evaluated public transport-based crowd-shipping for sustainable city logistics from economic and environmental perspectives. Rai et al. [19] performed a stakeholder analysis of a crowd logistics platform in Belgium, considering the environmental impact. Allahviranloo and Baghestani [20] observed daily travel behavior and proposed a crowd-shipping model. ...
Crowd-shipping presents a new trend in shipment distribution. It is a process in which the crowd is employed to deliver the items. Effective risk prioritization is essential in city logistics and delivery, especially with the emergence of crowd-shipping. As crowd-shipping platforms grow, they bring uncertainties and challenges that can significantly impact operational efficiency and customer confidence. Emphasizing risk prioritization is crucial for many reasons, including trust and security, improving operational efficiency, and ensuring regulatory readiness. Risk prioritization is more than a mere formality; it is a vital element in successfully managing the intricacies of crowd-shipping. By methodically addressing and mitigating risks, providers can strengthen their operational capabilities, foster better customer connections, and ultimately promote the sustainable advancement of crowd-shipping services. This paper prioritizes the risks in crowd-shipping from the crowd-shipping provider’s perspective, using an MCDM approach such as CIMAS. The risks are prioritized in descending order. Comparative analysis with the BWM indicates the high reliability of the results obtained by the CIMAS method.
... The COVID-19 pandemic further underscored the importance of RTL services in urban deliveries, providing essential goods to residents. However, the surge in orders exposed challenges within RTCLPs, such as low rider engagement and insufficient platform management adaptability [2][3][4]. Roland Berger: Report on the Impact of the Epidemic on China's Transportation and Logistics Industry ("Roland Berger: Report on the Impact of the Epidemic on China's Transportation and Logistics Industry" https://www.sohu.com/a/416555646_757817 (accessed on 5 September 2020).) ...
This study investigates gender-based differences in the satisfaction ranking of riders on real-time crowdsourcing logistics platforms, using online reviews from the Ele.me platform. Quantitative methods, including the frequency ratio-based Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), probabilistic linguistic term sets (PLTS), and fuzzy comprehensive evaluation (FCE), were applied to analyze satisfaction differences between men and women riders. The findings reveal an asymmetric pattern in satisfaction preferences: women riders place more emphasis on perceived value, while men riders prioritize service perceived quality. Although both groups rank platform image, product perceived quality, and rider expectations similarly, the importance of these factors varies significantly, indicating an underlying asymmetry in their expectations and values. Women riders express higher satisfaction with platform image, rider expectations, service perceived quality, and product perceived quality, with rider expectations showing the largest difference. Additionally, the multi-criteria decision-making methods used in this study offer insights for optimizing service performance in real-time crowdsourcing logistics platforms, particularly in handling uncertainty and enhancing system adaptability through fuzzy sets. These findings provide a basis for developing gender-specific strategies aimed at enhancing rider satisfaction, minimizing turnover, and improving platform adaptability—contributing to a more inclusive and sustainable logistics supply chain.
... Existing forces can advance progress in city logistics or counteract it in the long term. When the advantage of driving forces over counteracting forces is noticeable, the development of logistics can be observed within a given area [20][21][22]. The influence of forces shaping changes in city logistics is presented in Figure 2. ...
Modern cities face the challenge of reconciling dynamic development with environmental protection, as well as ensuring a high quality of life for their residents. In a time of continuous urbanization, with more than half of the world’s population living in cities, city logistics plays a crucial role in managing complex urban environments. As part of the concept of sustainable development, city logistics aims to minimize the negative impact of transport on the environment, while increasing operational efficiency and improving the comfort of life of residents in urban agglomerations. This article presents the results of a comparative analysis of the intensity of sustainable urban logistics development in selected cities of the European Union. It examines various strategies that reduce CO2 emissions, improve air quality, and increase building energy efficiency. The analysis demonstrates that cities investing in sustainable urban logistics not only improve their environmental performance but also increase their attractiveness and competitiveness as desirable places to live and work.
... Inherent in traditional logistics and transportation businesses are complications such as centralized control, difficulty in reconfiguration and lack of real-time optimization (Barenji et al., 2019). A feasible solution to overcome these bottlenecks is the use of platform which enables crowd shipping and has been proven to be more ecofriendly with better environmental impacts (Rai et al., 2018). Thus, in line with our research question, we explore how logistics providers develop dynamic competences while using these digital systems to achieve BMI. ...
The rising competition among firms necessitates new ways of doing business, especially in this digital era. This is fundamentally true of logistics companies as they strive to innovate their business models using digital technologies. Nevertheless, the dynamic competence gained by logistics firms while using digital technologies for BMI has not received sufficient research attention. Driven by the expedient research question, how do firms leverage digital technologies to develop dynamic capabilities for BMI, this study teases out the pathways to BMI by investigating how logistics companies engage digital resources to gain dynamic capabilities. Following the procedures established in Gioia methodology, we perform thematic analysis on qualitative data from the whitepapers of 20 logistics companies prominent for technology-enabled business models. Results reveal that while engaging digital technologies for their business processes, logistics businesses and their managers can sense opportunities for business expansion; seize these opportunities by mobilizing digital resources as well as reconfigure their processes to continue to take advantage of the recognized opportunities. Our results contribute to the dynamic capabilities theory by building on its core arguments to explicate the theoretical foundations of BMI development. Additionally, three propositions emerge regarding the sources of dynamic capabilities in the utilization of digital technologies by digital logistics.
... The majority of previous research and practical applications have focused on using personal vehicles, leading to dedicated trips or detours that often cannot be avoided (Punel and Stathopoulos, 2017;Allahviranloo and Baghestani, 2019). These personal vehicle-based models could result in rebound effects, where emissions increase rather than decrease (Buldeo Rai et al., 2018). Moreover, sharing economy concepts have frequently faced criticism for jeopardizing workers' rights and contributing to a precarious "gig economy" (Paus, 2018). ...
The expansion of e-commerce and the sharing economy has paved the way for crowdshipping as an innovative approach to addressing last-mile delivery challenges. Previous studies and implementations have predominantly concentrated on private vehicle-based crowdshipping, which may lead to increased traffic congestion and emissions due to additional trips made specifically for deliveries. To circumvent these possible adverse effects, this paper explores a public transport (PT)-based crowdshipping concept as a complementary solution to the traditional parcel delivery systems. In this model, PT users leverage their routine journeys to perform delivery tasks. We propose a methodology that includes a parcel locker location model and a vehicle routing model to analyze the effect of PT-based crowdshipping. Notably, the parcel locker location model aids in planning a PT-based crowdshipping network and identifying obstacles to its development. A case study conducted in the central district of Copenhagen utilizing real-world data assesses the effects of PT-based crowdshipping. The findings suggest that PT-based crowdshipping can decrease the total kilometers traveled by vehicles, the overall working hours of drivers, and the number of vans required for last-mile deliveries, thereby alleviating urban traffic congestion and environmental pollution. Nevertheless, the growth of PT-based crowdshipping may be limited by the availability of crowdshippers, indicating that initiatives to increase the number of crowdshippers are essential.
... Thereby, they present a cost-effective alternative to dedicated drivers (DDs), who are employed or contracted through a third-party logistics provider. This OD approach, leveraging existing store traffic, offers not only economic benefits (Archetti et al, 2016;Dayarian and Savelsbergh, 2020) but also aids in reducing pollution and urban traffic, while enhancing community ties (Buldeo Rai et al, 2018;Hutter and Neumann, 2023). However, the unpredictability of ODs, influenced by factors like the frequency of store visits and their fluctuating willingness to undertake deliveries at that day, poses a significant challenge. ...
Amid the rapid growth of online retail, last-mile delivery faces significant challenges , including the cost-effective delivery of goods to all customers. Accordingly, the development and improvement of innovative approaches thrive in current research. Our work contributes to this stream by applying dynamic pricing techniques to effectively model the possible involvement of the crowd in fulfilling delivery tasks. The use of occasional drivers (ODs) as a viable, cost-effective alternative to traditional dedicated drivers (DDs) prompts the necessity to focus on the inherent challenge posed by the uncertainty of ODs' arrival times and willingness to perform deliveries. We introduce a dynamic programming framework that offers individualized bundles of delivery task and compensation to ODs as they arrive. This model, akin to a reversed form of dynamic pricing, accounts for ODs' decision-making by treating their acceptance thresholds as a random variable. Thereby, our model addresses the dynamic and stochastic nature of OD availability and decision-making. We analytically solve the stage-wise optimization problem, outline inherent challenges such as the curses of dimensionality, and present structural properties. Designed to cope with these challenges, our approximation methods, a parametric value function approximation and a fluid approximation, aim to accurately determine avoided costs, which are a key factor in calculating optimal compensation. A comprehensive simulation study compares our algorithms with benchmark strategies, and shows the advantages of dynamic compensation across a range of scenarios. We conclude our work with managerial insights and a summary of our findings, offering significant implications for last-mile delivery operations.
... Approach 1: Eco-friendly objectives: A group of researchers consider environmental objectives such as minimizing total CO 2 emissions when designing a CS system (Rai et al., 2018;Gatta et al., 2019b;Ballare and Lin, 2020;Simoni et al., 2020). ...
An emerging stream of Crowd-Shipping (CS) solutions focuses on existing momentum in Public Transportation (PT) to ship viable delivery packages by PT passengers. Few studies have explored the package delivery acceptance behavior of passengers engaged in PT-based CS initiatives while passengers' behavioral intention to participate (i.e., engage) is not studied. It is requisite that newly introduced CS platforms explore their potential crowdshippers' behavior on intention to participate and set efficient marketing strategies. Given survey data collected from 2208 PT passengers in Sydney metropolitan area, this study explores the intention of PT passengers as crowd-shippers to participate in PT-based CS initiatives, as well as prohibiting factors in way of participation. Accordingly, a binominal logit model is developed whereby the variables impacting the intention to participate are identified. Then, using an inductive thematic analysis, 917 reasons (text responses) for not participating are scrutinized, and the prohibiting factors are identified and categorized. Considering demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of the respondents, the study reveals to what degree passengers with different characteristics are sensitive to prohibiting factors. This research provides several practical insights that can assist in successfully defining, launching, and advertising a new PT-based CS initiative. As a key finding, it is observed that women, full-time employees, elderly, retirees, and low-income PT passengers hardly participate, while the youth, individuals with a positive attitude towards sustainable freight initiatives, and those who experienced working with parcel lockers would participate with a higher probability. Moreover, it is observed that factors relating to time availability/flexibility and physical health condition/importance of passengers are much more important than the compensation level for passengers to accept to participate in PT-based CS initiatives.
... Crowdshipping using public transport has more advantages compared to crowd-delivery by private transport because car owners are more likely to make detours from their main route and may have parking problems [7]. Accordingly, crowdshipping based on private cars may increase the negative impact on the environment [8,9]. On the contrary, crowdshipping using public transport can reduce air emissions by 17%, and delivery costs for the carrier can be reduced by up to 29% per parcel, especially for cities with an extensive route network [10]. ...
Urbanization and the growth of e-commerce are the main factors behind the growth of last-mile delivery volumes. Crowdshipping using the public transport system is one of the relatively new scenarios for the organization of such delivery. This solution has good potential to meet consumer demands for fast delivery while simultaneously minimizing the negative externalities of urban freight transportation, which is the basis of the sustainability of the urban freight transport system. An important condition for understanding the development of crowdshipping using the public transport system and the formation of certain practical recommendations for the effective functioning of such delivery is the study of the opinion of potential users and crowdshippers. Analysis of available literary sources allows us to assert that the potential of crowdshipping delivery depends on specific urban planning conditions and characteristics of the population. Studying the opinions of respondents from Ukraine and the Czech Republic will allow us to gain new knowledge about the attitude of residents of cities that differ in size and characteristics of the public transport system to the possibilities of crowdshipping.
... Overall, the on-demand delivery mode engaging the substantial involvement of buses has the following advantages: 1) Reduced labor costs. In contrast to Cheng et al.'s combination of public transportation and truck delivery, which increases costs (Buldeo Rai et al. 2018), this study utilizes a combination of public transportation and non-motorized vehicles to reduce delivery labor costs; 2) Reducing negative external impacts of transportation caused by the excessive use of e-bikes, As a form of green transportation, buses have characteristics such as low energy consumption and low road space requirements. Using buses to perform part of the transportation tasks can effectively alleviate the negative external effects of on-demand delivery service; 3) Increasing people's willingness to participate in crowdsourced delivery. ...
With the rise of on-demand delivery, crowd shippers on third-party platforms are popular but come with higher external transportation costs and environmental impacts. To address these issues, we propose two crowdsourced delivery modes with bus involvement: "bus terminal + professional crowd shippers (B&P)" and "bus stop + crowdsourced passenger (B&C)." Both modes use buses to complete many of the delivery tasks, and fully utilize the free space at bus terminals, convenience stores around stations, automated parcel lockers, professional crowd shippers, and bus passengers to complete the entire delivery process. To assess the overall performance of these two delivery modes, we proposed a set of key performance indicators (KPIs) from four aspects: delivery cost, delivery efficiency, user experience, and external influence. Exploring the potential advantages of B&P and B&C modes based on 18349 delivery cases in downtown Ningbo, China. The results showed that the B&P and B&C modes can effectively reduce delivery cost and external influence while maintaining a comparable level of user experience and delivery efficiency as the P mode in the mid-to-long distance (3–10 km) delivery scenario. Finally, based on the above conclusions, we make some recommendations for the development planning of B&P and B&C modes.
... CS systems involving occasional drivers may impact the mobility patterns of drivers and even introduce new trips into the transportation system. Although substituting dedicated freight movements with existing mobilities of travelers in the transportation system may appear ecologically beneficial, the widespread adoption of such solutions could lead to adverse effects if they become a new source of trip generation (The New York Times, 2020;Rai et al., 2018;Allahviranloo and Baghestani, 2019;Qi et al., 2018). This concern can be mitigated in PT-based CS systems, wherein dedication of PT trips to parcel delivery would no longer be a drawback. ...
The subject of this research is to model the probability of accepting package delivery tasks in Crowd-Shipping (CS) systems focusing on shipping packages by Public Transportation (PT) passengers. Real-world implementation of such a PT-based CS initiative requires a proper grasp of the behavior of crowd shippers, package receivers, and senders, among which crowdshippers are at the center of attention. Given survey data collected from 2,208PT passengers in the Sydney metropolitan area, this study constructs a model for package delivery task acceptance among PT passengers who express a willingness to participate as crowdshippers. A Latent Class (LC) choice model is developed and estimated to explore different classes of participant characteristics and preferences for accepting CS delivery tasks, under different levels of offered incentive, package weight, and required detour distance at the destination. As a key finding, the model identifies three classes, namely "leisurely", "avid", and "skeptical" users with class sizes of 19%, 53%, and 28%, respectively. Leisurely users tend to be majorly employed with relatively higher ages and lower PT trip frequency per month. This class shows a potential desire to take CS tasks as long as they are not logistically burdensome. Avid users, forming the largest class of the population, are mostly younger PT passengers who are less sensitive to task difficulty and might accept even CS tasks with minimum incentives (around AU$3). Skeptical users, displaying high PT trip frequency per month and high income, are unwilling to accept the CS tasks unless get compensated well.
... According to Rai et al. (2018), not many studies have focused on crowd logistics, and some research questions remain unaddressed (Mehmann et al., 2015). Therefore, this paper seeks to discuss behavioral aspects that influence the acceptance or adoption of crowd logistics in the current digitalization era. ...
This paper provides a systematic review of the customer’s behavioral deliberations that govern their choice to participate in a crowd-logistics market. Little attention has been given to the crowd logistics platforms and small businesses. This paper presents the analysis of customers' crowd logistics adoption from a behavioral perspective. The study applied a systematic literature review method and examined previous literature on crowd logistics from Science Direct and Taylor and Francis. Systematic literature review involve the principles of transparency, rigor, and replicability, which bring significant benefits over traditional literature reviews through greater objectivity. The findings suggest that customers’ ability to use technology, safety considerations, desire to make social connections, trust, and convenience are the factors that influence people’s decisions to participate in the crowd-logistics market. The findings of this study are valuable for empirical research in a particular setting and strengthen the body of knowledge on the adoption or acceptance of the crowd-logistics concept.
... emission savings. This was confirmed by a Belgian study which concluded that 'vehicle detours and additional trips prevent crowd logistics from abating emissions, despite the initial premise of the sharing paradigm' (Buldeo Rai et al, 2018). The original expectation that crowdshipping might offer a means of reducing urban traffic level, and thereby emissions, appears not, as yet, to have been fulfilled. ...
... The two modes of crowdshipping have their own advantages and disadvantages. For example, crowdshipping with dedicated crowdshippers usually provides more efficient crowd logistics than ad-hoc crowdshippers, but it leads to much longer travel distances than crowdshipping with ad-hoc drivers (Buldeo Rai et al., 2018). Both types of crowdshipping are likely to be functional in the future. ...
The promotion of urban mobility by integrating people-and-goods transportation has attracted increasing attention in recent years. Within this framework, diversified forms such as co-modality, freight on transit, and crowdshipping have been proposed, piloted or implemented. The success of the implementation and market penetration depends on not only the novelties of the concept but also the planning and operational efficiency. Thus, a comprehensive review focusing on the operation of integrated people-and-goods transportation systems and associated critical decisions and subproblems is performed. Different practical forms in which people and goods are transported in an integrated manner are identified. The critical decisions associated with each form and subproblem are discussed, along with corresponding models and solution approaches. Notably, because integrated transportation systems are in the early exploration stage at present, new forms are expected to emerge. Therefore, this paper proposes a general framework to realise the planning and operation of new forms in the future. The decisions and subproblems identified from existing forms are fed to the proposed general framework to identify two key research opportunities: to improve or extend existing research and to conduct pioneering research to fill the gaps in the frameworks for operating potential forms of integrated people-and-goods transportation.
... In some cases, it can occur that new routes are generated, and existing trips are not reduced. Then, the service can lead to increase in travel costs, travel times and fuel consumption (Gatta et al., 2018;Buldeo Rai et al., 2018). Also, since the supply side of the market is not regulated, there are concerns about unreliability of the service due to damage and theft (Le et al., 2019). ...
The fast growth of e-commerce in urban areas has led to a surge in last-mile transportation demand and an associated increase of external effects: congestion, noise and visual pollution. This paper analyses a new urban freight transport service that has a potential to reduce this footprint: crowdshipping. Crowdshipping is a service where a package is delivered via a traveller who is already making a personal trip for other purposes. The decision of whether or not to use crowdshipping is known to be subject to various service, time and price conditions, including trust in a correct delivery. The effect of trust has not been investigated explicitly, however. We conduct a stated choice experiment and estimate a hybrid choice model with trust as a situation-specific latent variable. The research design allows us to explore how the relevant attributes influence service adoption via trust. We find a significant influence of established choice attributes on service adoption, except for the delivery company's reputation and the possibility of damage. In addition, all attributes except delivery time have a significant influence on trust. We conclude that trust has a partially mediating effect on the adoption of the service except delivery time, and a fully mediating effect on adoption via reputation and damage.
... On the environmental side, the utilization of trips already made by commuters does not add the extra emissions of the freight vehicles (Buldeo Rai et al., 2017;Paloheimo et al., 2016). Especially if CS is performed with an environmentally clean mode, emissions can be decreased (Buldeo Rai et al., 2018;Rougès & Montreuil, 2014). Research done by Arslan et al. (2019) proves the potential of CS to reduce costs both for customers and bringers, especially when they have to deal with the challenging scheduling task of same-day deliveries. ...
... In contrast to private vehicle based crowdshipping (e.g. Allahviranloo and Baghestani, 2019;Ermagun et al., 2020;Punel et al., 2018), utilization of public transport passengers' excess capacity would solely make use of non-dedicated trips and thus avoid the problem of detours that often cause crowdshipping with private vehicles to result in higher emissions than traditional delivery modes (Buldeo Rai et al., 2018). To enable this, a public transport system would make use of Automated Parcel Lockers (APLs), which in themselves have shown a range of advantages compared to traditional home delivery (e.g. ...
... Dayarian and Savelsbergh (2020) generalizes this stream of research by integrating future information into the planning. A group of related studies, Rai et al. (2018), Paloheimo et al. (2016), Simoni et al. (2019), and Mancini and Gansterer (2022) investigate the impact of crowdshipping on sustainability and environmental considerations under similar centrally modeled business model presumptions. ...
This paper studies the integration of the crowd workforce into a generic last-mile delivery setting in which a set of known delivery requests should be fulfilled at a minimum cost. In this setting, the crowd drivers are able to choose to perform a parcel delivery among the available and displayed requests. We specifically investigate the question: what tasks should be displayed to an individual driver, so as to minimize the overall delivery expenses? In contrast to past approaches, where drivers are either (a) given the choice of a single task chosen so as to optimize the platform's profit, or (b) allowed full autonomy in choosing from the entire set of available tasks. We propose a dynamic, customized display model, where the platform intelligently limits each driver's choice to only a subset of the available tasks. We formulate this problem as a finite-horizon Sequential Decision Problem, which captures (a) the individual driver's utility-driven task choice preferences, (b) the platform's total task fulfilment cost, consisting of both the payouts to the crowd-drivers as well as additional payouts to deliver the residual tasks. We devise a stochastic look-ahead strategy that tackles the curse dimensionality issues arising in action and state spaces and a non-linear (problem specifically concave) boundary condition. We demonstrate how this customized display model effectively balances the twin objectives of platform efficiency and driver autonomy. In particular, using computational experiments of representative situations, we exhibit that the dynamic and customize display strategy significantly reduces the platform's total task fulfilment cost.
... Due to the growth in both the urban population and e-commerce [1], an increasing amount of road space is devoted to last mile delivery vehicles [2]. These delivery vans slow down traffic in cities, which causes congestion [2], reduces the space available in cities [3,4] and increases emissions [5,6]. Hence, there is a need for alternative last mile delivery options [7] to increase the sustainability of last mile deliveries. ...
Land efficient last mile delivery concepts are key to reducing the traffic in cities and to minimising its environmental impact. This paper proposes a decision support method that evaluates the autonomous delivery concept and applies it to one year’s worth of real parcel delivery data in London. Deliveries to modular and fixed lockers with autonomous delivery vans and road-based autonomous lockers (RAL) and sidewalk autonomous delivery robots (SADRs) have been simulated. Various types of autonomous delivery van fleets, depot locations, customer modes of transport, parcel demand levels, parcel locker network densities and adjustment frequencies of modular lockers are considered. A routing and scheduling algorithm is used to optimise delivery tours and vehicle choice. The optimisation algorithm finds both the optimal number of collection and delivery points (CDPs) and the delivery concept (e.g., modular lockers, sidewalk autonomous delivery robot) depending on the customer mode chosen. The results show that modular lockers which are adjusted weekly are the best option for the current or higher parcel demand levels and road-autonomous parcel lockers (RAL-R) are the best option at the lowest parcel demand level.
This study aims to map and analyze the application of traditional supply chain management (SCM) using the Scopus database as the primary reference. The study employs bibliometric analysis methods to explore the practical aspects of traditional SCM. From the search results of 3,390 articles in the Scopus database, 256 articles with various objectives were considered relevant for mapping and analysis based on several criteria, such as the number of publications, country affiliations, keywords, and research topics/clusters based on previous studies related to the field. The findings of this research indicate the continued dominance of traditional SCM research, emphasizing the need for the discipline to explore new areas. Furthermore, this study highlights that the application of traditional SCM has primarily focused on production processes and supply chains, with a significant emphasis on the use of relevant technology and data. The originality and value of this research lie in providing useful information for future academics who wish to delve deeper into publications related to traditional SCM.
Multi-criteria Decision Making (MCDM) involves evaluating alternatives based on a comprehensive set of conflicting criteria, often requiring the involvement of varied decision makers. This has led to the emergence of stakeholder-based multi-criteria group decision-making (MCGDM) frameworks. However, traditional MCGDM frequently overlooks the interactions and trade-offs among different actors and criteria. The Multi-actor Multi-criteria Analysis (MAMCA), developed in 2000, provides a transparent decision-making process explicitly considering these interrelationships. It allows diverse stakeholder groups to represent their priorities, thereby enhancing their understanding of their own and others’ positions. Over the past two decades, MAMCA has seen a significant rise in popularity and has been widely applied in diverse contexts, proving valuable as both a decision-making and stakeholder engagement tool. However, our analysis of publications on cases in which MAMCA was applied over the years shows that considerable variation exists in the overall process approach, contingent upon the specific goals and context. To address these variations, this paper proposes a modularized MAMCA structure, complemented by systematic application guidelines, to aid future users in navigating the process steps and identifying the most suitable methods for each step. Additionally, future research directions are suggested for potential enhancements to the MAMCA framework by integrating varied methodologies.
Crowd logistics (CL) rose in the last years as an effective strategy to manage last-mile deliveries, especially in urban areas, which are often one of the main causes of the increased road traffic and, at the same time, negatively impacting on the environment. Within CL, the last-mile delivery is entrusted to the crowd, i.e. normal people willing to finalize the delivery, deviating as little as possible from their standard route, in exchange for an economic remuneration. In this context, this paper proposes a three-step heuristic approach to design a crowd-based last-mile delivery network, managing the whole process from the delivery of the goods in intermediate lockers by traditional shippers, up to the delivery to the final customers by occasional drivers (ODs). The proposed integrated approach is applied to the case study of the city of Bologna (Italy) to showcase its effectiveness. In fact, the city of Bologna is fully suitable for the implementation of CL due to the presence of traffic regulations in the city centre and for the high presence of university students which can potentially serve as OD.
Amaç: Bu çalışmanın amacı, son kilometre koli teslimatı alanıyla ilgili sistematik bir literatür taraması gerçekleştirmek ve literatürde yer alan yükselen eğilim ve teknolojilere bir bakış açısı sunmaktır. Yöntem: Çalışma kapsamında sistematik bir literatür taraması gerçekleştirilerek tanımlayıcı analizler gerçekleştirilmiş ve son kilometre koli teslimatı yazını kapsamında literatürde yer verilen yeni iş modelleri, yükselen eğilim ve teknolojiler belirlenerek gruplanmış; detaylı bir şekilde açıklanarak tanıtılmış ve her birinin sağladığı potansiyel faydalar ifade edilmiştir. Bulgular: İlgili literatür taramasının analizlerinde son kilometre koli teslimatı kavramıyla ilgili yayın sayısında önemli bir artış görülmektedir. Çalışmaların büyük çoğunluğu, nicel teknikleri uygulamaktadır. Literatür taraması neticesinde, en çok yayın yapılan dergiler ve dergilerin etki faktörlerine de yer verilmiştir. Üç gruba ayrılan ve alt başlıklarıyla detaylandırılan eğilim ve teknolojiler ise teknoloji odaklı teslimat seçenekleri, çevre dostu teslimat uygulamaları ve yeni iş modelleridir. Özgünlük: Bilinebildiği kadarıyla bu çalışma, son kilometre koli teslimatı alanında bu kadar detaylı incelenen ilk Türkçe literatür taramasıdır. Anahtar Kelimeler: Koli teslimatı, son kilometre lojistiği, literatür taraması, yükselen eğilim ve teknolojiler Jel Kodları: L 90, L 91, R 40
O mundo vem vivenciando uma explosão de iniciativas de economia compartilhada. No contexto logístico estas operações são verificadas principalmente na terceirização para uma grande massa de atores dos serviços de última milha. O artigo realiza uma Revisão Sistemática de Literatura com o objetivo de apresentar a evolução da produção científica do tema ao longo do tempo os principais autores, periódicos e países que estudam a logística da multidão; busca explicitar qual o estado da arte da área e quais são os esforços de pesquisa atuais, além de expor direções de pesquisas futuras. Os resultados mostram que a pesquisa científica sobre Logística de Multidão ainda está em sua infância e múltiplas questões de pesquisa ainda não foram exploradas.
Purpose – Although crowd logistics (CL) is a promising digital solution, its future development remains uncertain. Our paper suggests multiple possible futures of CL in terms of business relationships and value co-creation between manufacturers and digital platforms.
Design/methodology/approach – Our paper offers a systemic and multi stakeholder approach related to the field of strategic foresight, based on the scenario method. The scenarios construction involved 22 participants (practitioners, academic researchers, and foresight experts).
Findings – Four scenarios emerged from the strategic foresight study. For each scenario, the configuration, diffusion, and coordination of CL—as well as the balance of power between manufacturers, digital platforms, and customers—are specified.
Research limitations/implications – The foresight analysis reveals not one certain future, but multiple potential business configurations and research avenues related to the development of CL.
Practical implications – The adopted multi stakeholders perspective, including macro factors, regarding CL allows business-to-business managers to rethink its potential. Managers can use the scenarios to consider multiple types of coordination with digital platforms and its implication for value co-creation.
Social implications – This paper provides insights into social changes that may constitute drivers and consequences of the development of CL and identifies two forms of coupling that may drive the development of CL: regulation–social transformation and technology–environment.
Originality – This research contributes to IMP research on business-to-business relationships in digital contexts, by showing that CL presents an opportunity for the co-creation of distribution value in a business-to-business environment.
Crowdshipping is increasingly known as a sustainable solution to address the challenges of last mile delivery (LMD) in urban areas. While employing the crowd to perform LMD appears to be an operationally and financially appealing model, it comes with several challenges in practice, including low willingness to participate in delivery work due to low financial incentive and additional travel effort. Inspired by the Physical Internet concept, in this paper we propose a novel crowdsourced LMD problem and solution approach, which allows a delivery task to be performed by one or multiple crowdshippers using parcel lockers as exchange points. The utilisation of parcel lockers in a crowdshipping network allows for shorter trip detour and better geographical coverage. To achieve this objective, we develop a novel model for locating parcel lockers and allocating delivery tasks. A two-phase algorithm is then developed to rank and choose parcel lockers from the potential locations, which first classifies jobs into single and joint delivery sets and then scores each prospective locker by its utilisation in cooperative delivery. A second algorithm is then designed with three selection strategies of random, roulette, and inverse roulette to assign jobs to crowdshippers for single or joint delivery. To evaluate the performance of the algorithms, experiments were conducted in small and large instances based on a real-world case study. While the exact solution was only capable to deal with small-sized problems, the proposed algorithms were able to produce (sub-)optimal results with significantly low computational expenses. Numerical analyses conducted on large instances showed that enabling joint delivery can improve the success delivery rate by up to 5%, which can be achieved by having a small number of parcel lockers hired at ‘critical’ locations.
This exploratory paper contributes to a new body of research that investigates the potential of digital market places to disrupt transport and mobility services. We are specifically looking at the urban freight sector, where numerous app-based services have emerged in recent years. The paper specifically looks at ‘instant deliveries,’ i.e. services providing on-demand delivery within two hours – by either private individuals, independent contractors, or employees – by connecting consignors, couriers and consignees via a digital platform. The paper provides an overview of the main issues concerning instant deliveries, supported by data (including a survey of 96 courier delivery providers) and examples. After presenting a typology of companies (digital platforms) involved in ‘instant deliveries,’ we question in what way they transform the urban freight current patterns. We highlight four issues, discussing their potential to impact urban freight services and related policies in European cities: 1) Freight trips and data; 2) Business models; 3) Labor legislation and work conditions; and 4) Local public policies. We conclude by saying that predicting the medium-term consequences of these changes is difficult, but it is essential that city planning and policies take account of these developments and consider how planning and possibly regulation needs to be adapted to these new ways of doing things.
Patterned on crowdsourcing and crowdfunding, a new crowd practice has emerged in recent years: crowd logistics. In this paper, we propose a first conceptualization of this growing phenomenon. Crowd logistics is a novel way of providing logistics services that taps into the dormant logistics resources and capabilities of individuals, using mobile applications and web-based platforms. Although crowd logistics has been widely discussed in the business world, it has not yet been the subject of any academic publication. Following an exploratory case study approach, we review the websites of 57 crowd logistics initiatives around the world and highlight the main distinctive characteristics of crowd logistics, as compared to traditional business logistics. We introduce a segmented analysis in which crowd logistics solutions are classified according to four types of service offered. Finally, we introduce six theoretical propositions on the future development of crowd logistics. At a theoretical level, our findings contribute to enriching the service-dominant logic perspective in the logistics field by conceptualizing the crowd as a co-creator of logistics value. At a managerial level, our findings contribute to identifying which types of crowd logistics services are more likely to threaten or disrupt traditional business.
Growth in e-commerce has led to increasing use of light goods vehicles for parcel deliveries in urban areas. This paper provides an insight into the reasons behind this growth and the resulting effort required to meet the exacting delivery services offered by e-retailers which often lead to poor vehicle utilisation in the last-mile operation, as well as the duplication of delivery services in urban centres as competitors vie for business. A case study investigating current parcel delivery operations in central London identified the scale of the challenge facing the last-mile parcel delivery driver, highlighting the importance of walking which can account for 62% of the total vehicle round time and 40% of the total round distance in the operations studied. The characteristics of these operations are in direct conflict with the urban infrastructure which is being increasingly redesigned in favour of walking, cycling and public transport, reducing the kerbside accessibility for last-mile operations. The paper highlights other pressures on last-mile operators associated with managing seasonal peaks in demand; reduced lead times between customers placing orders and deliveries being made; meeting delivery time windows; first-time delivery failure rates and the need to manage high levels of product returns. It concludes by describing a range of initiatives that retailers and parcel carriers, sometimes in conjunction with city authorities, can implement to reduce the costs associated with last-mile delivery, without negatively impacting on customer service levels.
PurposePassenger car occupancy has been falling for years. Partly empty vehicles on our road networks decrease passenger transport sustainability but also contain an opportunity for freight transport. Within Crowd logistics (CL), delivery operations are carried out by using passengers’ excess capacity on journeys that are already taking place, resulting in economic, social and environmental benefits. Existing CL initiatives show, however, that there are important differences between concepts in terms of sustainability. The research aims to develop a suitable and comprehensive definition for CL and identify which factors determine the sustainability potential of CL. Methods
We systematically analysed a set of 42 papers and interviewed 11 logistics practitioners in order to capture the state of practice. ResultsFollowing the literature and interviews, we firstly define CL as ‘an information connectivity enabled marketplace concept that matches supply and demand for logistics services with an undefined and external crowd that has free capacity with regards to time and/or space, participates on a voluntary basis and is compensated accordingly’. Secondly, we identify a set of 18 characteristics that can describe the variety of CL concepts. Thirdly, we indicate whether the identified characteristics affect the economy, society and/or environment. The research shows that all characteristics influence economic sustainability while 11 characteristics also affect social and/or environmental sustainability. Conclusions
Our research helps local policy-makers to adapt laws and regulations to the sharing economy developments and provides insight for businesses which CL concept fits their company’s corporate social responsibility strategy.
Small and medium-sized companies, in particular small local shops, suffer from increased competition via e-commerce channels, e.g., by Amazon and its same day delivery services. Consequently, local shops need delivery options to remain competitive. However, available delivery options such as express delivery are too expensive. A crowd-based delivery platform that leverages free capacity of cars from craftsman and nursing services as well as individuals can be one solution to organize affordable deliveries for small local shops. In this paper, we develop a first version of such a transportation platform within an action research study. Based on the early version of the platform, we discover smart data related challenges that need to be solved to establish the platform successfully. These challenges cover (1) identifying matches between the drivers' routes and transportation requests within a large data set, (2) governing the different parties participating in the platform ecosystem, (3) incentivizing users to join to overcome the " chicken or egg " problem, (4) establishing trust among platform users, and (5) ensuring privacy of user data. The solutions to these challenges will not only facilitate the implementation of a transportation platform for small local shops, they will also contribute to other platform-based business.
The purpose of this study was to investigate how a smart phone freight application service (Apps) could reduce CO2 emissions in road freight transport and to identify the core problems for improvements.
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the nature and characteristics of crowd logistics business models. Using this evaluation, a new concept for a sustainable implementation of crowd logistics services is proposed.
Design/methodology/approach
The Design Science process was followed to develop the proposed crowd logistics business model concept. The data are derived from expert interviews and a document-based data analysis of 13 companies.
Findings
Four relevant steps that companies should follow to implement sustainable crowd logistics services are identified. Open research questions are also identified and guide five research tasks, which may lead to a greater understanding of this emerging field.
Research limitations/implications
The present research is based on data from companies operating in Germany. The holistic approach gives a broad overview but lacks detailed descriptions.
Practical implications
Managers can use the four steps and the crowd logistics business model concept to plan future activities (e.g. new service provision). These steps increase the understanding, awareness and knowledge of opportunities and risks of specific crowd logistics services.
Social implications
This paper provides initial insights into social changes in terms of drivers for the use of crowd logistics services. However, further research is needed to capture the social implications in detail.
Originality/value
Crowd logistics is an emerging concept, and this paper is one of the first dealing with this topic generally and the first providing an analysis of crowd logistics business models. The developed concept includes implications for practice in the forms of common, and best practices, and science in the form of open research questions and tasks. Overall, the present research provides new insights into this emerging topic.
This paper proposes a crowdsource-enabled system for urban parcel relay and delivery. We consider cyclists and pedestrians as crowdsources who are close to customers and interested in relaying parcels with a truck carrier and undertaking jobs for the last-leg parcel delivery and the first-leg parcel pickup. The crowdsources express their interests in doing so by submitting bids to the truck carrier. The truck carrier then selects bids and coordinates crowdsources’ last-leg delivery (first-leg pickup) with its truck operations. The truck carrier's problem is formulated as a mixed integer non-linear program which simultaneously i) selects crowdsources to complete the last-leg delivery (first-leg pickup) between customers and selected points for crowdsource-truck relay; and ii) determines the relay points and truck routes and schedule. To solve the truck carrier problem, we first decompose the problem into a winner determination problem and a simultaneous pickup and delivery problem with soft time windows, and propose a Tabu Search based algorithm to iteratively solve the two subproblems. Numerical results show that this solution approach is able to yield close-to-optimum solutions with much less time than using off-the-shelf solvers. By adopting this new system, truck vehicle miles traveled (VMT) and total cost can be reduced compared to pure-truck delivery. The advantage of the system over pure-truck delivery is sensitive to factors such as penalty for servicing outside customers’ desired time windows, truck unit operating cost, time value of crowdsources, and the crowdsource mode.
'The last mile' is a phrase commonly used in a logistics and freight transport context to highlight the special characteristics and challenges in moving goods within urban areas in what is usually the last leg of a long freight transport chain. The last mile challenge often also involves changing mode of transport for that leg, categorizing the transport chain as intermodal. Although similar issues arise for passenger transport, integrated transport is more commonly used to highlight the need to change modes of transport for the last, or fi rst, section of a long-distance public transport journey. Although passenger and goods transport share the same infrastructure, predominantly in urban areas, they are largely seen as diff erent systems and remain separated. Thus wasting scarce resources and contributing to congestion and the 'last mile' problem. In this context, the aim of this paper is to synthesize the main issues related to the fi rst and last mile in freight and passenger transport and, based on that, to explore synergies between them in order to share the use of resources-based on time, space and vehicle. To this end, various examples of sharing resources for transport of passengers and freight are provided. The paper concludes that integrating passenger and freight transport in urban areas is a promising approach to easing the last mile problem. However, to advance operational integration of passenger and freight transport services, integration at the institutional and business levels of freight and passenger transport provision is required.
How will logistics in cities be carried out in the midterm future? To answer this question an overview of different existing and emerging transport logistics operations is provided, the pros and cons of these different operations are set out. Based on these findings a partial qualitative systemic model is presented which shows how these operations are influenced by global and logistics trends on the one hand and by delivery service requirements on the other hand. Based on this model a vision of urban logistics in Europe in the year 2030 as well as the concept of “Post 4.0” is presented.
PURPOSE
Various types and implementations of crowdsourcing have emerged on the market; many of them are related to logistics. While we can identify plenty of crowd logistics applications using information technology capabilities and information sharing in practice, theories behind this phenomenon have received only limited attention. This paper accounts for filling this research gap by analyzing the crowd’s contributions in logistics of goods and information. Thereby, this paper aims to provide the necessary basis for a novel interdisciplinary research field
DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH
This paper is part of an ongoing research endeavor in the field of location-based crowdsourcing (LBCS). It represents conceptual work that builds on a literature review enriched with an in-depth analysis of real-world examples in the field of crowd logistics. Using a scoring method, we provide an example how a company may evaluate the alternatives of crowd logistics.
The main approach is an analysis of variants of how the social crowd may be integrated in logistics processes. The work is conceptual in its core. Thereby, we use real-world examples of crowdsourcing applications to underpin the evaluated variants of crowd logistics.
FINDINGS
The paper presents relevant theoretical background on crowd logistics. We differentiate between variants of crowd logistics with their flow of materials, goods, and information. Thereby we zoom in the type, significance, and process flow of the crowd’s contributions. We discuss potential advantages and challenges of logistics with the performing crowd and deeply discuss opportunities and challenges from a business and from an individual’s perspective. Finally, we highlight a route map for future research directions in this novel interdisciplinary research field.
RESEARCH LIMITATIONS/IMPLICATIONS
As this work is conceptual in its core, generalizations may be drawn only with great care. Still, we are in a position to propose a route map for further research in this area in this paper. Also the integration of an analysis of a scale of real-world applications allows us to highlight our research’s practical relevance and implications.
ORIGINALITY/VALUE
The main contribution of this paper is an in-depth analysis and consolidation of innovative crowd logistics applications in order to provide an overview on recent implementations. We propose a categorization scheme and contribute with a route map for further research in the field of crowd logistics.
The popularity of round-the-clock online shopping urges the rapid growth of E-commerce, which substantially generates additional parcels for distribution on the forward side. On the other hand, collecting the returned goods on the revere side is also increasingly becoming a preoccupation, particularly in the crowd and dense metropolitan areas. Inspired by the concepts of Crowdsourcing and Physical Internet (Pi), we propose an innovative solution to collect the E-commerce returned goods from final consumption points back to retailers. As an alternative to traditional ways, this solution delivers the returned goods and passengers in an integrated way by leveraging the extra loading capacity and constant mobility provided by taxis that are already reserved to transport passengers. Thus, it could simultaneously migrate the negative economical, environmental, and social impacts of reverse flows management. To address the issue of the returned goods collection, we first conduct the qualitative and quantitative study, and further investigate the feasibility and viability of the solution based on three real-world datasets, which consist of locations of shops, a road network, and a large-scale trajectory data generated by over 7,000 taxis in a month in the city of Hangzhou, China. Three collection strategies are proposed and evaluated. Experimental results generate several useful insights to the implementability and managerial issues of the proposed solution.
The trend towards shorter delivery lead-times reduces operational efficiency and increases transportation costs for internet retailers. Mobile technology, however, creates new opportunities to organize the last-mile. In this paper, we study the concept of crowdsourced delivery that aims to use excess capacity on journeys that already take place to make deliveries. We consider a peer-to-peer platform that automatically creates matches between parcel delivery tasks and ad-hoc drivers. The matching of tasks and drivers gives rise to a new variant of the dynamic pickup and delivery problem. We propose a rolling horizon framework and develop an exact solution approach to solve the various subproblems. In order to investigate the potential benefit of crowdsourced delivery, we conduct a wide range of computational experiments. The experiments provide insights into the viability of crowdsourced delivery under various assumptions about the environment and the behavior of the ad-hoc drivers. The results suggest that the use of ad-hoc drivers has the potential to make the last-mile more cost-efficient and environmentally friendly.
Calls for a transformation towards more sustainable consumption and production (SCP) have been intensifying. As urban populations swell across the planet, cities are faced with incresing pressure on infrastructure, economic and ecological systems. Yet, with their high population densities and ubiquity of information and communication technologies, cities are becoming breeding grounds for a new, circular economy driven by emerging and long-standing sharing activities. This research provides a comprehensive view of SCP systems in cities by integrating and examining sharing economy activities in the context of two continuums, i.e. SCP and private/public orientation. Based on these two analytical dimensions, the paper evaluates and plots five groups of 18 sharing activities to create a Sharing Cities- SCP Typology comprised by five ideal types. Each of these five types represents a unique form of SCP activity, with the potential to directly impact SCP systems in the context of urban environments. By enabling diversity and hybridity in the SCP analysis, we allow for a theoretical expansion of SCP models and a new way of understanding how they may play out in cities.
Since the 1960s, the number of commuters in the Brussels Capital Region has doubled: nowadays more than 400,000 workers commute in and out of Brussels on a daily basis. In order to preserve the liveability of the region in terms of mobility, environment and traffic safety, policy measures should be taken to reduce the number and/or distances of commuter trips. Telework is often suggested as an instrument to reduce the environmental and socio-economic impacts of mobility on society. Currently, the implementation of teleworking is however still rather limited and fragmental in most companies in Belgium. Goal of this paper is to assess whether further encouragement of telework is advisable from a sustainable mobility viewpoint. Based on Belgian survey data, an appraisal of the environmental and mobility related impacts of telework for companies located in the Brussels Capital Region is performed, using an analysis of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of telework. In order to quantify the effects, external costs of trips to the central headquarter office are compared to those of trips to decentralized satellite offices and those caused by additional distances travelled when teleworking at home. Modal shifts occurring between trips travelled to the central office and trips travelled to the satellite office are taken into account and play an important role in the overall impact on external transport costs. Also receptor density and congestion levels along the routes travelled are taken into account.
Purpose
The purpose of this review article is to investigate the usefulness of different types of life cycle assessment (LCA) studies of electrified vehicles to provide robust and relevant stakeholder information. It presents synthesized conclusions based on 79 papers. Another objective is to search for explanations to divergence and “complexity” of results found by other overviewing papers in the research field, and to compile methodological learnings. The hypothesis was that such divergence could be explained by differences in goal and scope definitions of the reviewed LCA studies.
Methods
The review has set special attention to the goal and scope formulation of all included studies. First, completeness and clarity have been assessed in view of the ISO standard’s (ISO 2006a, b) recommendation for goal definition. Secondly, studies have been categorized based on technical and methodological scope, and searched for coherent conclusions.
Results and discussion
Comprehensive goal formulation according to the ISO standard (ISO 2006a, b) is absent in most reviewed studies. Few give any account of the time scope, indicating the temporal validity of results and conclusions. Furthermore, most studies focus on today’s electric vehicle technology, which is under strong development. Consequently, there is a lack of future time perspective, e.g., to advances in material processing, manufacturing of parts, and changes in electricity production. Nevertheless, robust assessment conclusions may still be identified. Most obvious is that electricity production is the main cause of environmental impact for externally chargeable vehicles. If, and only if, the charging electricity has very low emissions of fossil carbon, electric vehicles can reach their full potential in mitigating global warming. Consequently, it is surprising that almost no studies make this stipulation a main conclusion and try to convey it as a clear message to relevant stakeholders. Also, obtaining resources can be observed as a key area for future research. In mining, leakage of toxic substances from mine tailings has been highlighted. Efficient recycling, which is often assumed in LCA studies of electrified vehicles, may reduce demand for virgin resources and production energy. However, its realization remains a future challenge.
Conclusions
LCA studies with clearly stated purposes and time scope are key to stakeholder lessons and guidance. It is also necessary for quality assurance. LCA practitioners studying hybrid and electric vehicles are strongly recommended to provide comprehensive and clear goal and scope formulation in line with the ISO standard (ISO 2006a, b).
This paper presents work carried out in the projects STRAIGHTSOL and SMARTFUSION, both funded within the seventh framework programme of the European Commission. Both projects develop and apply an evaluation framework to assess innovative urban and interurban freight transport solutions. The frameworks will be generic and applicable to any measure within the urban-interurban context and across regions in Europe. To reach that goal, the two projects work together on improvements. This paper discusses their common challenges, approaches, provisional outcomes and differences. Next it looks at the lessons that can be learned from each other.
How to compare the environmental performance of different vehicle technologies? Vehicles with lower tailpipe emissions are perceived as cleaner. However, does it make sense to look only to tailpipe emissions? Limiting the comparison only to these emissions denies the fact that there are emissions involved during the production of a fuel and this approach gives too much advantage to zero-tailpipe vehicles like battery electric vehicles (BEV) and fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV). Would it be enough to combine fuel production and tailpipe emissions? Especially when comparing the environmental performance of alternative vehicle technologies, the emissions during production of the specific components and their appropriate end-of-life treatment processes should also be taken into account. Therefore, the complete life cycle of the vehicle should be included in order to avoid problem shifting from one life stage to another. In this article, a full life cycle assessment (LCA) of petrol, diesel, fuel cell electric (FCEV), compressed natural gas (CNG), liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), hybrid electric, battery electric (BEV), bio-diesel and bio-ethanol vehicles has been performed. The aim of the manuscript is to investigate the impact of the different vehicle technologies on the environment and to develop a range-based modeling system that enables a more robust interpretation of the
LCA results for a group of vehicles. Results are shown for climate change, respiratory
effects, acidification and mineral extraction damage of the different vehicle technologies.
A broad range of results is obtained due to the variability within the car market. It is
concluded that it is essential to take into account the influence of all the vehicle parameters
on the LCA results.
Although our urbanized civilization requires freight transport in order to sustain it, urban freight transport is especially recognized for its unsustainable impacts. To reduce the unsustainable impacts of urban freight transport, many local governments develop policies that focus sometimes more on banning or restricting urban transport than on making it more sustainable. In the first part of this thesis we develop a framework to structure the urban freight transport field and to review urban fraight transport sustainability initiatives. The number of initiatives that is succesfully implemented in practice turns out te be quite low. In the review and the following analysis, we try to find the barriers for succesful implementation of the initiatives in practice. In the seond part we examine the impacts of the most commonly used local sustainability policies. Six time-window scenarios and their impacts on the economical, environmental and social sustainability are examined based on a multiple case study. Time-window regulations increase both the environmental and distribution costs. Retail chains are affected differently by time-window pressure and vehicle restrictions due to differences in their logical concept. based on an experiment we examine the effects of retailers' logical decisions in combination with local sustainability policies. Next, we examine the degree to which retailers are able te deal with problems caused by time-windows. Combining the primary and secondary distribution, i.e. factory gate pricing, results in more sustainable distribution operations for the retailer and in less sensivity towards time-window regulations.
Same‐day delivery of online orders is becoming an indispensable service for large retailers. We explore an environment in which in‐store customers supplement company drivers and deliver online orders on their way home. We consider a highly dynamic and stochastic same‐day delivery environment in which online orders as well as in‐store customers willing to make deliveries arrive throughout the day. Studying settings in which delivery capacity is uncertain is novel and practically relevant. Our proposed approaches are simple, yet produce high‐quality solutions in a short amount of time that can be employed in practice. We develop two rolling horizon dispatching approaches: a myopic one that considers only the state of the system when making decisions, and one that also incorporates probabilistic information about future online order and in‐store customer arrivals. We quantify the potential benefits of a novel form of crowdshipping for same‐day delivery and demonstrate the value of exploiting probabilistic information about the future. We explore the advantages and disadvantages of this form of crowdshipping and show the impact of changes in environment characteristics, e.g., online order arrival pattern, company fleet size, and in‐store customer compensation on its performance, i.e., service quality and operational cost.
Today’s consumer has high expectations concerning retailers’ delivery services. Meanwhile, the impact of urban freight transport on cities intensifies. The concept of crowd logistics entails to optimise transport flows by sharing available vehicle capacities for freight. Therefore, it can contribute positively to both challenges. While there are endorsing examples, developments in both practice and research urge to question this claim. Our research aims to investigate which types of crowd logistics activities currently exist and if these types are supported by the stakeholders involved. Therefore, we systematically review existing literature and execute a multi-actor multi-criteria analysis. Our findings indicate that stakeholders’ perceptions diverge significantly, which should be taken into account by practitioners and policy-makers.
The purchase and usage of a car comes at a cost for the owner, i.e. the Total Cost of Ownership, but also causes costs to society, i.e. external costs. Summing up the privately borne costs with the publicly borne costs results in the Total Cost for Society.
To assess how ownership costs and external costs are currently balanced in the Total Cost for Society for different vehicle technologies, we present a persona-based analysis of the costs categories associated with the ownership and usage of electric and conventional cars within three passenger car segments. Six persona represent diverse driver profiles with different mobility patterns in Flanders (Belgium).
We find that the balance between ownership costs and external costs is highly variable given the assumed persona, while for each persona the ranking between the vehicle technologies themselves does not vary much.
There are two major issues in spatial crowdsourcing: travel route optimization and control policies. To address the two issues above, we introduce the concept of Pocket switch network (PSN) into the CD-system. First, we formulate a generalized optimization problem into three aspects of connectivity, profit and risk, motivated by the concepts in PSN. Afterward, these three aspects are mathematically described and optimized by a routing algorithm based on dynamic mobility and social graph. This algorithm consists of two parts: social graph extraction and social mobility based routing. Social graph learns the social knowledge of each patrician while social mobility based routing decides the leaving nodes of the passages according to their social graph. Finally, we evaluated the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed method on the realistic traces. The results demonstrated its superior performance in connectivity, profit, and risk.
This paper demonstrates the potential benefits of crowdsourcing last mile delivery by exploiting a social network of the customers. The presented models and analysis are informed by the results of a survey to gauge people’s attitudes toward engaging in social network-reliant package delivery to and by friends or acquaintances. It is found that using friends in a social network to assist in last mile delivery greatly reduces delivery costs and total emissions while ensuring speedy and reliable delivery. The proposed new delivery method also mitigates the privacy concerns and not-at-home syndrome that widely exist in last mile delivery.
In light of the rapid development in the e-commerce sector and the increasingly popular demand for same day delivery, this study evaluates the performance of an on-demand same day delivery (SDD) paradigm in terms of its transportation time cost, fuel cost, and emission cost. The performance is further evaluated by comparing among three delivery paradigms: hub-and-spoke, SDD with a commercial fleet, and SDD by crowdsourcing. Among the three service paradigms compared, hub-and-spoke proves to be cost-effective for the traditional distribution service provided by commercial carriers but ill-suited for providing same day delivery service. Commercial carriers are facing tremendous pressure in the era when same-day delivery service is increasingly expected. Crowdsourcing is a promising solution to providing low cost same day delivery service. Lastly, regardless of the delivery paradigm, the total cost goes down as the economy of scale increases; and SDD by crowdsourcing would become even more competitive when the demand ratio is very high; however, its fuel consumption and emissions tend to go up due to the additional vehicle detours to accommodate real time demand.
Crowdshipping is a frontier in logistics systems designed to allow citizens to connect via online platforms and organize goods delivery along planned travel routes. The goal of this paper is to highlight the factors that influence the acceptability and preferences for crowdshipping. Through a survey using stated choice scenarios discrete choice models controlling for context and experience effects are specified. The results suggest that distinct preference patterns exist for distance classes of the shipment. In the local delivery setting, senders value transparency of driver performance monitoring along with speed, while longer shipments prioritize delivery conditions and driver training and experience. The model developed in this paper provides first key insights into the factors affecting preferences for goods delivery with occasional drivers.
In urban logistics, the last-mile delivery from the warehouse to the consumer’s home has become more and more challenging with the continuous growth of E-commerce. It requires elaborate planning and scheduling to minimize the global traveling cost, but often results in unattended delivery as most consumers are away from home. In this paper, we propose an effective large-scale mobile crowd-tasking model in which a large pool of citizen workers are used to perform the last-mile delivery. To efficiently solve the model, we formulate it as a network min-cost flow problem and propose various pruning techniques that can dramatically reduce the network size. Comprehensive experiments were conducted with Singapore and Beijing datasets. The results show that our solution can support real-time delivery optimization in the large-scale mobile crowd-sourcing problem.
We consider a setting in which a company not only has a fleet of capacitated vehicles and drivers available to make deliveries, but may also use the services of occasional drivers who are willing to make a single delivery using their own vehicle in return for a small compensation if the delivery location is not too far from their own destination. The company seeks to make all the deliveries at minimum total cost, i.e., the cost associated with its own vehicles and drivers plus the compensation paid to the occasional drivers. The option to use occasional drivers to make deliveries gives rise to a new and interesting variant of the classical capacitated vehicle routing problem. We design and implement a multi-start heuristic which produces solutions with small errors when compared with optimal solutions obtained by solving an integer programming formulation with a commercial solver. A comprehensive computational study provides valuable insight into the potential of using occasional drivers to reduce delivery costs, focusing primarily on the number and flexibility of occasional drivers and the compensation scheme employed.
Although inevitable, urban traffic causes air pollution, noise pollution and congestion. Up to 20% of urban traffic is related to freight transport and service trips and, proportionally, it contributes more to the negative side-effects of urban traffic than passenger related traffic. Throughout the past few decades, a range of solutions to reduce the negative impact of urban freight transport have been researched, tested and implemented. Two possible solutions are: freight flow consolidation and off-hour deliveries. They have two things in common. First, despite the fact that it is generally accepted that there are considerable benefits to both solutions they seem to remain permanently promising and have not been widely adopted yet. Second, they require support of both public and commercial stakeholders to be successful in the long term. The purpose of this thesis is to identify feasible, consensual and successful applications of urban freight flow consolidation and off-hour deliveries. To reach that goal a twofold approach is adopted: (i) reassessing the generally accepted logic behind freight flow consolidation and off-hour deliveries as well as their impact and (ii) evaluating both concepts and/or their applications from the perspective of all stakeholders.
One possible freight flow consolidation solution is to implement an Urban Consolidation Centre (UCC). A review of the available UCC impact assessment made me conclude that 87% of UCCs have a positive impact on the number of urban freight vehicle kilometres. However, this positive impact might have to partially be put down to the lack of high-quality urban freight data and the consequent too positive estimations. Despite the dominant attention for UCCs in the literature on urban freight flow consolidation, there are alternative approaches. This thesis identifies and categorizes them and cites existing, often small-scale examples. One possible alternative approach is to use a Mobile Depot for express deliveries and pick-ups. Evaluating this concept revealed that it decreases the amount of emitted pollutants and the number of diesel vehicle kilometres but doubles the operational costs for the express service provider. The thesis also demonstrates that there is no overall stakeholder support for a general shift of urban freight flows to off-hours in Belgium. There are, however, freight flows that are more suited than others to be shifted to off-hours. My research identifies these freight flows and characterizes them. Based on this research, one particularly suited freight flow would be supermarket deliveries. Evaluating a trial that took place in Brussels revealed that there are considerable time and fuel savings when deliveries to two supermarkets in Brussels are shifted to off-hours and that this solution would be able to receive overall stakeholder support when sufficient measures are taken to keep the noise nuisance for local residents to a minimum. Finally, the thesis contributes to the research field of urban freight transport by introducing the concept of stakeholder involvement in the evaluation of urban freight transport solutions by using Multi Actor Multi Criteria Analysis which is an evaluation tool that explicitly includes the goals and objectives of all stakeholders.
The paper presents a case study of applying crowdsourcing to library deliveries. The trial was conducted in the city of Jyväskylä in Finland as part of the Resource Wise Communities program funded by The Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra. The city has a population of 120 000 inhabitants and is facing the shut-down of half of the public libraries in order to adapt its economy to lowered revenues and compulsory cost savings. The assumption was that the level of service for customers not able to settle for e-books would be lowered and/or customers would have to travel longer distances. However, a research pilot was carried out where –instead of lowering the level of service in the area– books and other library media were delivered to customers’ homes by utilizing a novel crowdsourced delivery service called PiggyBaggy.
Crowdsourcing is the use of large groups of individuals to perform tasks traditionally performed by employees or designated agents. For business process outsourcing (BPO) service providers, the crowd may represent a new way to reduce costs and increase efficiencies associated with labor-intensive services. The ability to connect with the crowd to get work done may also open up new possibilities for workers in rural or economically depressed areas, and those within emerging markets. It is unclear, however, what challenges a crowdsourced services business model creates for organizations. An exploratory case study examining the potential of the crowd as a source of on-demand labor for delivering labor-intensive BPO services reveals the key role of information technology in overcoming economic, technical, and social challenges. Five key challenges were identified and are discussed: 1) protecting sensitive data, 2) ensuring quality of work, 3) ensuring timely completion of tasks, 4) managing increased workload, and 5) ensuring the sustainability of the model.
In this contribution, the multi actor multi criteria analysis (MAMCA) to evaluate transport projects is presented. This evaluation methodology specifically focuses on the inclusion of the different actors that are involved in a project, the so-called stakeholders. Like the traditional multi criteria decision analysis (MCDA), it allows including qualitative as well as quantitative criteria with their relative importance, but within the MAMCA they represent the goals and objectives of the multiple stakeholders. As such, the stakeholders are incorporated in the decision process. The theoretical foundation of the MAMCA method is shown, together with several applications in the field of transport appraisal.
SUMMARY Life-cycle assessment (LCA) is a methodology for analyzing the environmental interactions of a technological system with the environment. Early forms of LCA were used in the United States in the late 1960s for defining corporate environmental strategy, and later in the 1970s by government agencies as an aid for developing public policy. In the late 1990s, LCA emerged as a worldwide environmental management tool in the form of the ISO 14040 series. Despite relatively limited use in the Philippines, there is considerable potential for its utilization in both public and private sectors. For example, LCA can be used to assess different technologies in order to identify the best environmental option; alternatively, it can be used to provide a scientific basis for developing sound environmental strategies and policies in government or industry. Current LCA resources in the Philippines are limited, but in the past decade De La Salle University - Manila has gradually developed the capacity to engage in scientific research, technical consultancy and training in this field. A description of some current projects undertaken by the LCA research group is given.
The purpose of this paper is to investigate a method of scaling ratios using the principal eigenvector of a positive pairwise comparison matrix. Consistency of the matrix data is defined and measured by an expression involving the average of the nonprincipal eigenvalues. We show that λmax = n is a necessary and sufficient condition for consistency. We also show that twice this measure is the variance in judgmental errors. A scale of numbers from 1 to 9 is introduced together with a discussion of how it compares with other scales. To illustrate the theory, it is then applied to some examples for which the answer is known, offering the opportunity for validating the approach. The discussion is then extended to multiple criterion decision making by formally introducing the notion of a hierarchy, investigating some properties of hierarchies, and applying the eigenvalue approach to scaling complex problems structured hierarchically to obtain a unidimensional composite vector for scaling the elements falling in any single level of the hierarchy. A brief discussion is also included regarding how the hierarchy serves as a useful tool for decomposing a large-scale problem, in order to make measurement possible despite the now-classical observation that the mind is limited to 7 ± 2 factors for simultaneous comparison.
- P Bickel
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Collaborative Logistics. Ripe for Disruption
- R Botsman
Botsman, R., 2014a. Collaborative Logistics. Ripe for Disruption.
Crowdshipping: using the Crowd to Transform Delivery
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The Impact of the Collaborative Economy on the Labour Market
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Internalisering Van Externe Kosten Van Transport in Vlaanderen: Actualisering
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Cargo Hitching: Waar pakketjes en personen samengaan
- Dinalog
Dinalog, 2016. Cargo Hitching: Waar pakketjes en personen samengaan.