The identification and mitigation of negative externalities from goods deliveries in urban areas are important aspects of sustainable urban development. Previous studies have shown that urban freight consolidation increases the load factor of Delivery Vehicles (DVs), reducing the vehicle-kilometres driven and thus reducing negative freight transport externalities in urban areas. The objective of this paper is to explore the possible impact of the number of Urban Consolidation Centres (UCCs) on the external costs of last-mile deliveries in freight transport and to determine the possible contribution of such consolidation scenarios to external cost mitigation. Therefore, several consolidation scenarios are considered assuming different numbers of UCCs in operation. A new consolidation scheme is proposed with more than one UCC to serve a given city area. Input data are obtained from a roadside questionnaire survey with a sample of 1617 drivers at 9 access roads to an urban area as part of the NOvi Sad TRAnsport Model (NOSTRAM) study. Externalities are calculated using the IMPACT methodology and discussed for different urban freight consolidation options. The best option is identified, and the results indicate that properly planned, organised and managed urban freight consolidation can significantly reduce transport externalities. The main research results showed that all of the proposed consolidation options increase the total driving distance in an urban area. However, some consolidation options significantly reduce the driving distance of less manageable vehicles in last-mile deliveries (long-haul heavy- and light-duty vehicles). Consequently, the external costs ranged from 2108.3 to 5420.5 EUR for the consolidation option, whereas the current state externalities are 2791.4 EUR. Thus, more small UCCs may provide better results than the central centre even in medium-sized cities.

International supply chains generate substantial amounts of CO2 emissions. However, established methodologies for national freight transport emission assessments do not consider such international perspectives sufficiently. This research aims to show how logistic responsibility may be used in ex post transport CO2 emission assessments, for macrologistic or supply chain levels. We propose an original approach to estimate and allocate CO2 emissions generated by international freight transport between trade countries. The proposed method relies on the applied Incoterms® rules in sales contracts. A new indicator, the index of responsibility for transport emissions (RTE-index), is introduced to allocate bilateral trade-related transport CO2 emissions. This is the first time that the Incoterms® clauses are used for macrologistic assessments of international trade-related transport CO2 emissions. Our approach is exemplified using bilateral trade-related transport flows between Serbia and other European countries. The introduced RTE-index is expected to help visualise average national trade-related transport CO2 emission responsibilities; increase awareness regarding environmental considerations among trade parties, logistics companies, and national organisations; and provide new perspectives for environmental transport policy actions.

No abstract