A Simulation Study on Electric Last Mile Delivery with Mobile Smart Cargo Boxes

The increasing popularity of e-commerce requires efficient solutions for the provision of last mile logistics. There are different approaches for delivering parcels, e.g., home delivery, service points, or parcel lockers, which have different advantages and disadvantages for customers and logistics providers in terms of flexibility, accessibility, and operating costs. We have studied a novel transportation solution where electric vehicles dynamically set up smart cargo boxes, from which customers can fetch their delivery at any time of the day. This provides customers with a more flexible access to their packages and allows the service provider to deliver the parcels more efficiently. In this article, we present the results of a feasibility study conducted in Västra Hamnen, Malmö (Sweden). The developed simulation model shows that smart boxes not only are a viable approach for efficient last mile deliveries, but also result in considerably smaller travel distances compared to conventional package delivery