Road congestion generated by distribution centres in European port regions: risks and opportunities of the development of hybrid logistics

Setting up warehouses for logistics distribution activities in port regions brings economic advantages to the territory of port regions but can have negative effects on road circulation and create traffic jams. In the long run, this can be translated into a loss of time for workers that drive along the arteries of port areas and even into a disincentive to the very location of logistics activities in ports. This article will first describe the significant case study on road congestion determined by the location of many European Distribution Centres (EDC) in Rotterdam and then analyse whether the spreading of innovative \u2018hybrid logistics\u2019 models (e.g. the use of both centralised warehouses in port regions and regional inland warehouses), which was recently pointed out by some scholars, can have further negative effects on road congestion in the European port areas. The conclusion this article draws is that, contrary to what some researchers assume, the new hybrid logistics models may actually have positive effects on the reduction of road congestion in port areas if the intermodal transport systems from ports to the inland are adequately integrated within the distribution logistics networks both through policies that support and coordinate the intermodal transport from sea to land to be implemented by port organisations and through the creation of inland terminals that can provide room to distribution centres