LaMiLo

The problem of urban freight delivery becomes a real challenge for local authorities and transporters. On the one hand, the last mile delivery represents 20% of the total cost of the supply chain; on the other hand, urban logistics represent up to 25% of CO2 emission. This is where the project LaMiLo (Last Mile Logistics) fits in.

Inspiration

The freight delivery in the city is an essential activity in urban economic development. With the development of urban space, the urban delivery is a source of great nuisance: traffic jam (20 to 25% of road occupancy concerns the urban transport of goods), noise, CO₂ emission and other local air pollutants (White booklet of the European Commission: "Roadmap to a single transport area"). We consider amongst the most popular urban logistic solutions, the concept of the urban distribution centre (a consolidation platform that coordinates urban deliveries), the electronic parcel lockers, the parcel shop (pick-up point), the low emission areas, the delivery tricycle or by clean vehicles...

With the e-commerce boom and the return of the convenience stores, these environmental concerns and efficiency push the policy makers and the logistic professionals to rethink supply chain models in cities. In this context, 15 partners gathered around the LaMiLo project to promote new business practices, which have only been tested at the pilot project level, for individual deliveries, to stores or distribution centres.

Innovation

The partners work together on the operational framework of six urban logistics solutions in Europe and on the promotion of the cooperation between different public / private actors, particularly by means of workshops to initiate a change in their current behaviour. The Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology (LIST) is actively involved in this project. It will be responsible for assessing the economic and environmental impact of initiatives deployed and tested during the project. These consolidation centres are meant to maximise the filling rate of vehicles and to reduce the number of trips by making several deliveries in the same area. LIST will also be responsible for proposing a mapping tool of urban freight transport, Smart City Logistics.

Smart City Logistics is a decision support platform for urban logistics for European cities. Smart City Logistics provides decision makers with a wide range of easy to understand information to support the development of urban freight transportation plans. Addressing urban logistics requires an integrated understanding of transport, environmental and socio-economic aspects to arrive at sustainable solutions. The Smart City Logistics platform maps information on transportation networks, access restrictions, traffic measures, delivery and transport facilities, administrative units, population, land use and emission situations. Smart City Logistics allows to assess trends and relationships from different perspectives and identify innovative and strong sustainable solutions > smartcitylogistics.eu

Impact

With the testing of the new supply chain models, the project will encourage the collaboration to reduce the number of movements in the city centre at retail and in residential areas. Direct representation of the logistics industry in the partnership will quickly collect the results and guarantee that partners seek sustainable solutions to meet the needs of businesses.