Urban Freight Challenges:
A review of last mile challenges and potential solutions
Hua, Li
Embry Riddle Aeronautical University Student
LGMT 636 Transportation Management
William (Bill) Christensen, Ph. D.
January 31, 2022
For Urban Freight Challenges, there are many aspects one could talk about. Emission green-house gases and noise pollution are a growing regulatory concern which was not of an operational factor historically (Tanco, 2021). Within city boundaries there are traffic congestion, fuel efficiency concerns and strict government policies which change from town to town that can lead to motor carrier hurdles. The same economic growth fueled by transportation services ironically cause cities to attract a workforce leading a city to become more crowded, with more pedestrians, more automobiles which restrict the ability for motor carriers to access their destinations (Bosona, 2020). As people keep moving from rural areas to urban areas, for all their different reasons, motor carriers and local governments must continue to work to identify solutions (Tanco, 2021).
More people, means more demand. Transportation plays critical method while growing city. Truck and trailers, might be need move earth and bricks for build new houses, or for delivery groceries and medical supplies, necessarily for people living. Once cities are better established then all the creature comforts of life soon follow. Electrical appliances, technology, furniture, sporting and camping equipment of all variety.
Inside a city, the main downtown, always have heavy traffic congestion. That causes inefficiency of fuel and travel time for drivers (Novack et al., 2019). At the end, it simply costs more money to deliver for that last mile. For many companies’ drivers inside a city are performing short haul deliveries and are paid by the hour as opposed to by the mile. The city can help by designating and then enforcing Off-Peak Delivery hours through either legislation or outreach with stakeholders (Novack et al., 2019). What this means is that motor carriers will avoid the normal rush hours of the day-time. This reduces pressures on the city roadway and truck drivers. By operating in hours of reduced traffic congestion there is less fuel usage, less engine idling time and less air pollution making these deliveries better for the city, environment, and the drivers (Novack et al., 2019).
For these types of urban freight challenges, another solution is switch to smaller trailer or dispatch a truck from the nearest terminal, right before the cargo enters inside main city or downtown. Consolidation and dispersion at terminal, for each area unit. A south Korean equivalent is to have terminals in near Dong or Eup. In South Korea, a city is organized by ‘Dong’ for neighborhood, the suburb is organized by an ‘Eup’ unit. Multiple small order deliveries are shipped for same house after being processed through a break bulk terminal. Boxes are loaded into a smaller truck, which can fit inside a city better, for safety. The smaller truck reduces overall challenges created by pedestrians as there are fewer blind spots. Especially, for that last mile as the truck has to weave in and out of dense apartment complexes which hold hundreds of families on each block.
In South Korea, almost the country’s population is gathered together in the capital aera. Recently, with growing delivery service and demand, accidents rates have also jumped inside apartment complex. COVID-19 has through government enforcement boosted delivery requirements. People are currently not allowed to dinning in restaurant or to gather in public and the stresses involved with home confinement has caused a spike in deliveries for food delivery services. Also, the most vulnerable population, senior citizens have increased smartphone use to utilize e-commerce and omni-channel shopping (Choi, 2020). Many companies such as Coupang and food delivery services have increased the number of drivers on their payroll and have their vehicles covering more ground as a result increasing accidents and the legal liabilities for these companies.
Nowadays, this specific delivery service (which is call “TeakBea” in South Korea) is a big issue. Some town or apartment policies won’t allow the delivery truck go inside the apartment complex at all, for safety and privacy reasons (Jun, 2021). Companies responded by dolly carrying the boxes into the apartment complexes. Accidents and lawsuits have been reduced, but the drivers are significantly less happy about it.
This solution is not without creating its own problems. the drivers in companies grow to support city demand the administrative overhead for supporting last mile deliveries inside cities also increase. Currently inflation and minimum wages growing every year putting a crunch on profit margins. As fleets grow drivers may unionize and subsequently, they will strike for better wage and better fringe benefits or from unpleasant work conditions caused by unrealistic delivery goals within city boundaries (Jun, 2021).
For automobile operations, most of the cost is fuel and the labor cost. For these two aspects a sustainable solution is autonomous transportation as this might be solve current issue of accidents by reducing human error and inexperienced drivers driving poorly burning more fuel in the process (Bosona, 2020). To implement this solutions companies would need government policy or law to support them. Because, for autonomous transportation, a city needs to build more autonomous dedicated autonomous lanes than might currently exist, a city would need to install more cameras for safety, cities would also need satellite sensor hubs in greater density (Eckelmann, 2017). To get to this point the planning and construction would have to begin now in order to gain the benefit by decades end.
But for now, we can utilize electronic vehicle and drop box concept for certain areas. If trucks carbon dioxide to air pollution cities might pass legislation restricting their access to city centers. Electronic vehicles would be immune to this problem (Bosona, 2020). A challenge to this solution is that nearby terminals would need to install electric charging ports. This means that all terminals supporting nearby cities would provide break-bulk services, electrical charging ports and need also need command nodes for the Global Positioning System (GPS) road mapping systems or some other type of real-world traffic indicator for city routes (Bosona, 2020). The dispatchers will need to be able to assess congestion before sending an electric truck for last mile deliveries. If a truck were to run low on power inside the city it likely will be too large to fit inside a city charging station (Bosona, 2020). Failure to plan for the energy drain of traffic will result in trucks getting stuck inside the city. By blocking traffic due to a drained battery, the company driver is likely to receive multiple citations from the city (Novack, 2019).
Last mile deliveries through city centers presents many challenges to motor carriers. By influencing city policy, utilizing new energy sources, or harnessing automation a motor carriers stands to increase their profits and capacity, which can lead to greater growth for the company.
WORKS CITED
Novack, R. A., Suzuki, Y., Gibson, B. J., Coyle, J. J. (2019). Transportation: A Global Supply Chain Perspective. Cengage
Bosona, T. (2020). Urban Freight Last Mile Logistics—Challenges and Opportunities to Improve Sustainability: A Literature Review. Sustainability, 12(21), 8769. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su12218769
Eckelmann, S., Trautmann, T., Ußler, H., Reichelt, B., Michler, O. (2017), V2V-Communication, LiDAR System and Positioning Sensors for Future Fusion Algorithms in Connected Vehicles. Transportation Research Procedia, 27, 69-76. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trpro.2017.12.032
Tanco, M., Escuder, M. (2021). A multi-perspective analysis for the better understanding of urban freight transport challenges and opportunities in Montevideo. Case Studies on Transport Policy, 9(2), 405-417. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cstp.2020.11.005
Choi, J.-C. (2020). User familiarity and satisfaction with food delivery mobile apps. SAGE Open, 10(4). https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244020970563
Jun. J.-H. (2021). Delivery workers refuse door-to-door service following residents unilateral action. The Korea Times. https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2021/04/371_307247.html
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