Smart Method for Self-Organization in Last-Mile Parcel Delivery

Abstract

Parcel delivery operators experience an increasing pressure to meet the strongly growing demand for delivery services, while protecting city livability and the environment. Improving the performance of the last mile of delivery is considered key in meeting this challenge as it forms the most inefficient, expensive, and environmentally unfriendly part of delivery operations. A primary cause is a significant duplication of service areas, resulting in redundant vehicle kilometers traveled. In this paper, a new method is presented that allows for the allocation of parcels to delivery vehicles and construction of vehicle routes in real time through an auctioning system. These tasks are performed in a self-organizing manner by vehicles, parcels, and a supporting platform, to allow for collaborative and intermodal delivery. The performance of this new method is tested and compared against the currently used techniques using an agent-based simulation model. The new method manages to greatly improve the efficiency, robustness, and flexibility of delivery operations.

Identification of Urban Air Logistics Distribution Network Concepts

“…Based on delivery and pick-up demands, clusters can be formed subject to vehicle capacity constraints ( 53 ). These models are deployed in on-demand transport service providers, and there are self-organizing methods to allocate parcels to vehicles considering capacity constraints and constructing vehicle routes ( 54 ).…”