Title | The scope for pavement porters: addressing the challenges of last-mile parcel delivery in London |
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Type | Journal article |
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Authors | Allen, J., Bektas, T., Cherrett, T., Bates, O., Friday, A., McLeod, F., Piecyk, M., Piotrowska, M. and Wise, S. |
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Abstract | The UK parcel sector generated almost £9 billion in revenue in 2015, with growth expected to increase by 15.6% in 2019 and is characterized by many independent players competing in an ‘everyone-delivers-everywhere’ culture leading to much replication of vehicle activity. With road space in urban centers being increasingly reallocated to pavement widening, bus and cycle lanes, there is growing interest in alternative solutions to the last-mile delivery problem. We make three contributions in this paper: firstly, through empirical analysis using carrier operational datasets, we quantify the characteristics of last-mile parcel operations and demonstrate the reliance placed on walking which can make up over 60% of the round time; secondly we introduce the concept of ‘portering’ where vans rendezvous with porters who operate within specific ‘patches’ to service consignees on-foot, potentially saving 86% in driving distance on some rounds; finally, we highlight the wider practical issues and optimization challenges associated with operating driving and portering rounds in inner urban areas. |
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Journal | Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board |
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Journal citation | 2672 (9), pp. 184-193 |
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ISSN | 0361-1981 |
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Year | 2018 |
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Publisher | Sage |
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Accepted author manuscript | |
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Digital Object Identifier (DOI) | https://doi.org/10.1177/0361198118794535 |
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Publication dates |
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Published online | 03 Sep 2018 |
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Published in print | 01 Dec 2018 |
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Funder | EPSRC (Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council) |
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