Designing Zero-Emissions Containerized Last-mile Delivery Systems: A Case Study for Melbourne

This research investigates the benefits of using swap containers in Two-Echelon (2E) urban delivery systems, which extend beyond the reduced handling costs and processing time in van-bike delivery systems. By drawing on the success of standardized freight containers in the international shipping industry, swap containers can be used to substitute low-capacity vehicles in the first delivery echelon with large-capacity vehicles such as buses or trams. Standardization of swap containers can also encourage collaboration and bring economies of scale.

The study proposes a 2E Capacitated Vehicle Routing Problem (2E-CVRP) and a modified multi-start heuristic solution algorithm to analyze the impact of (1) container standardization, (2) large-scale shipping of containers overnight with on-street and high-capacity public vehicles, and (3) decentralized deployment of satellites in Melbourne. Results indicate that standardization can stimulate collaboration and reduce the required bike fleet by 8 %. Shipping containers by overnight tram services can reduce total delivery costs by up to 25 % and eliminate 190 km of daily van travel distances. Using car parking spaces as storage satellites can decrease operational costs by 8 % and travel distances by 27.4 %.