Modelling the Effects of Urban Co-Operative Freight Transport

Co-operative freight transport systems are among the key City Logistics initiatives with the potential for solving urban traffic problems. This paper focuses on multi-carrier joint freight transport systems with co-operative freight organization within urban areas. A VRPTW-based simulation model is developed for investigating the effects and financial viability of such systems. This model has a three-stage calculation procedure involving the behavior of three stakeholders: freight carriers, co-operative freight organization and administrators (i.e. public sector). Applications of the model to hypothetical urban delivery problems showed that introducing co-operative freight transport systems could lead to significant reductions in total delivery cost and total travel time, whilst the effects and profitability for the co-operative freight organization depend on the number and distribution of customers. Co-operative freight transport systems would not be profitable if the location of customers is widely dispersed within urban areas. Results also showed that access restrictions to the city centre would increase delivery costs as well as reduce total travel time on the whole road network.