The ‘last mile’ - the final leg of a product’s journey from a logistics hub to the end user – has become one of the biggest challenges in urban logistics.

It is precisely where the highest costs, congestion and emissions are concentrated. As e-commerce sales grow and environmental regulations in urban areas become stricter, it is essential to adopt solutions that optimize this process from an economic and sustainable perspective.

 

ITENE, a leading research center in Mobility and Digital Transformation, is working on the development of technologies to address this challenge, and is currently promoting the e-SUMA project, focused on autonomous, connected and intelligent vehicle technology for last mile delivery. This solution proposes a real alternative to reduce emissions, improve logistics efficiency and adapt to future regulations on urban mobility.

According to a report presented by Statista (2023), the global last-mile delivery market reached $41.2 billion in 2022, with a projected annual growth rate of nearly 15%. As environmental standards tighten - such as the EU’s “Fit for 55” plan requiring zero-emission delivery vehicles by 2035 - investment in sustainable delivery solutions is no longer optional, but essential. Added to this is the exponential growth of e-commerce and the increase in urban areas with access restrictions.

For all these reasons, the last mile domain offers a great opportunity to implement innovative solutions that can drastically reduce the environmental impact of transport. One such solution is the use of smart lockers. Lockers are self-service pickup points installed in strategic urban areas where goods are deposited and collected by end users at their convenience. This system offers an efficient and sustainable alternative for the delivery of goods, reducing the need for individual home delivery trips, which in turn reduces the emissions associated with the transportation of goods.

However, the potential of smart lockers is amplified when combined with... YOU CAN READ THE ARTICLE IN https://www.infopack.es/revista/324/index78.html