Freight Traffic Impacts and Logistics Inefficiencies in India: Policy Interventions and Solution Concepts for Sustainable City Logistics

Abstract

Freight traffic fulfils not only the business needs of a region to move goods between producers, manufacturers, and end consumers, but also creates a host of unintended environmental, social, and economic impacts. Despite its importance, freight traffic impacts and associated logistic inefficiencies are largely overlooked in the urban transport discussions in developing economies like India. This paper addresses this research gap by outlining the research progress related to freight transport in India and discusses the key problems related to freight system performance. The published literature in the last three decades (1990–2020), policy briefs and institutional reports are explored to summarize key findings and uncover thematic linkages. We categorize the inefficiencies in the freight system into four aspects: (i) long-haul trucking, (ii) last-mile logistics, (iii) freight distribution (inventory level), and (iv) policies and regulations. Apart from identifying the limitations in policy discourse, this paper also explores the possible solution concepts to improve efficiency in freight transport and mitigate the unintended negative externalities in urban areas. The overall conclusion is that increasing and improving infrastructure and equipment, technology and operations, and policy and regulations will go some way towards making freight more efficient in India and reducing congestion and emissions of air pollutants and GHG. The present paper can be expected to promote further freight research and effective policy instrument design in India.

Examining the Impacts of Highway Proximity on Freight Flow Patterns of Establishments

“…Another policy suggestion is the introduction of taxation schemes to limit frequent trips made by establishments near highways. An efficient taxation scheme can go a long way in mitigating the externalities arising from growing truck movements in heterogeneous traffic conditions, especially in countries like India ( 28 ). Lastly, the results encourage a probable future research direction on conducting firm-level policy analysis.…”

“…These variables are pivotal to developing effective logistics plans and marketing strategies, which are of utmost importance to logistical providers and associated stakeholders ( 11 , 14 , 21 , 27 ). Similarly, variables such as fleet size, ownership, and fleet distribution are central to formulating policies on long-haul trucking, last-mile logistics, logistics outsourcing, and insourcing and emission mitigation ( 12 , 28 , 29 ). Therefore, a total of 17 variables have been chosen carefully based on inferences obtained from recent and relevant literature.…”

Assessing the Viability of Using Autorickshaws for Urban Freight Delivery in India

“…Urbanization has brought more personalized, hyperlocal freight orders, fragmenting delivery points. India's experience in this regard is not unique, but the impacts are especially pronounced due to the higher traffic congestion levels (Sahu et al 2022).…”

Analisis Feasibilitas Penerapan Crowdshipping: Studi Kasus Kota Surabaya

“…Terpisah yang dimaksud dalam konteks ini adalah ketika ada suatu aktivitas perjalanan dari titik A ke B maka akan ada 1 kendaraan yang digunakan. Disisi lain, ada kemungkinan pada waktu yang sama, terdapat aktivitas pengiriman barang melewati rute yang sama dengan menggunakan 1 kendaraan berbeda [7]. Untuk mengatasi permasalahan tersebut dibutuhkan suatu konsep yang dapat menginegrasikan proses logistik yang ada.…”