Transforming Last-Mile Logistics: Opportunities for more Sustainable Deliveries

Road congestion, air pollution and sustainability are increasingly important in major cities. We look to understand how last-mile deliveries in the parcel sector are impacting our roads. Using formative field work and quantitative analysis of consignment manifests and location data, we identify how the effectiveness of life-style couriers is contributing to both environmental and non-environmental externalities. This paper presents an analysis of delivery performances and practices in last-mile logistics in central London, quantifying the impacts differing levels of experience have on overall round efficiency. We identify eleven key opportunities for technological support for last-mile parcel deliveries that could contribute to both driver eectiveness and sustainability. We finish by examining how HCI can lead to improved environmental and social justice by re-considering and realizing future collaborative visions in last-mile logistics

A strategic supply chain planning tool for multisite enterprises

In this paper, we present a research program that deals with the development of a strategic supply chain planning tool for the multisite enterprises. This tool, which takes advantage from the integration of optimisation and simulation techniques will enable to model the logistic activities related to this kind of enterprises and will help in strategic decision making. After a brief introduction relating to supply chain management concepts, we propose a review of literature for the problem of design of the supply network. Then, we present a detailed description of the objectives and the architecture of the decision tool that is the main concern of this research program

Benchmarking freight rates and procuring cost-attractive transportation services

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to help shippers determine a negotiation yardstick for transportation price and formulate wise transportation outsourcing strategies by examining the presence of freight rate differentials for shippers and identifying their main causes. This paper also develops a framework for benchmarking freight rates based on the actual data. Design/methodology/approach This paper proposes an additive dummy regression model to determine a statistical significance in shipping charges between different shippers. Unlike the traditional least square analysis, the proposed model is designed to avoid a biased assessment of the impact of an explanatory variable. Findings Through a series of empirical data analysis and hypothesis tests, the authors discovered that the fixed portion (minimum base charge) of shipping charges differed depending on the shipper’ individual contract, while the variable portion (fuel or accessorial charge) of shipping charges remained the same regardless of the shipper’s individual contract. As such, shippers who are unaware of flexible but unpredictable transportation pricing practices and unprepared for freight rate negotiation can suffer from higher shipping costs as compared to their peers. Thus, the authors conclude that the success of transportation outsourcing, carrier selection, and freight rate negotiation strategies tends to rest on the shipper’s ability to understand transportation cost structures and then determine the benchmark freight rate considered “fair” and “reasonable” for a given service. Originality/value This paper is one of the first to examine shipping cost differentials between different shippers and determine what causes such differentials. In doing so, this paper attempted to assess the potential impact of freight rate negotiation and carrier selection strategies on shippers’ transportation costs in current deregulatory environments where shippers were given a greater freedom to negotiate freight rates with carriers and an increased opportunity to save their transportation costs

Maritime Economy: Definition and Main Aspects

The maritime economy can be defined as the whole range of activities related to the sea, in other words whose conditions of development depend on the sea. This factual definition needs to be specified according to the degree of dependence: total, for the entire production mode, or partial, for the manufacturing of certain products or the supply of certain services. Furthermore, the definition raises a series of questions. A question of coverage: is it possible to list and delineate the whole range of "maritime" economic activities? A question of measuring the economic value of this range: is it possible to give a definition and a quantitative assessment of this range? By means of which indicators? A question of coherence: is the whole range composed of activities unrelated to each other? Or do they have commercial relationships and conditions of development (environmental, regulatory) leading, to a certain extent, to consider them jointly? The present chapter aims to address these issues on a European scale

Developing a cost calculation model for inland navigation

Abstract: The inland waterway transport sector in Western Europe is a competitive market with an excess of supply over demand. Overcapacity puts pressure on prices, and has caused a decline in profitability, particularly since the economic crisis of 2008. In this competitive environment, it is crucial for ship owners to have accurate information on the cost of their service in order to avoid setting freight rates at non-profitable levels. For this reason, a scientific instrument to calculate the cost of inland waterway transport is needed. Following upon a literature review, the aim of the paper is to develop a new cost calculation model by vessel type, taking into account internal fixed and variable out-of-pocket costs, from the ship owner's perspective, as well as external cost elements of inland waterway transport. Subsequently, the methodology behind the input parameters, the model computations, and the output is discussed and supported with a case study. The paper reveals that a model for use in the inland navigation sector needs to be based on company-specific input parameters. Due to the variety of ship types and dimensions, operation modes, contracts, and specific trip considerations, models based on average values seldom provide accurate results. The collection of averages, however, can serve scientific purposes, such as the analysis of investment decisions, or the effect of changes to the charter agreement. As such, the model proposed in this paper is capable of collecting and processing user input for the generation of average values, for further insights into the inland navigation sector

New immigrant struggles in Italy's logistics industry

The wave of strikes in the logistics sector since 2008 is by far the most important struggle that has developed in Italy in the wake of the global economic crisis. In this article we reflect on its potential for the renewal of the labour movement. We ground our discussion in an analysis of global production transformations and migration as a factor of working class re-composition. We show that in Italy the crisis is determining an acute process of deindustrialisation, while austerity and harshening immigration restrictions are reinforcing the deregulation and racialisation of employment relation. Deindustrialisation, however, is matched by the growth of the logistics sector and its reorganisation along the lines of Just-in-Time production, which actually strengthens workers' bargaining power at the point of production. After describing working conditions in the sector, we present the main characteristics of logistics struggles. The mainly immigrant logistics workers have been able to exercise their power through blockades and strikes, obtaining improved agreements with some of the main logistics companies. In a context of increasingly generalised precarity, these struggles can inspire workers in other sectors and promote a process of international class re-composition