Missed deliveries are a major issue for package carriers and a source of great hassle for the customers. Either the carrier attempts to redeliver the package, incurring the additional expense of visiting the same house up to three times, or they leave the package on the doorstep, vulnerable to package thieves. In this dissertation, a system of collection-and-delivery-points (CDPs) has been proposed to improve customer service and reduce carrier costs. A CDP is a place, either in an existing business or a new location, where the carrier drops any missed deliveries and the customers can pick the packages at their convenience. To examine the viability of a CDP system in North America, a variation on a location-routing problem (LRP) was created, a mixed-integer programming model called the CDP-LRP. Unlike standard LRPs, the CDP-LRP takes into account both the delivery truck route distance and the direct customer travel to the CDPs. Also, the facilities being placed are not located at the beginning and ending of the truck routes, but are stops along the routes. After testing, it became clear that, because of the size and complexity of the problem, the CDP-LRP is unable to be solved exactly in a reasonable amount of time. Heuristics developed for the standard LRP cannot be applied to the CDP-LRP because of the differences between the models. Therefore, three heuristics were created to approximate the solution to the CDP-LRP, each with two different embedded modified vehicle routing problem (VRP) algorithms, the Clark-Wright and the Sweep, modified to handle the additional restrictions caused by the CDPs. The first is an improvement heuristic, in which each closed CDP is tested as a replacement for each open CDP, and the move that creates the most savings is implemented. The second begins with every CDP open, and closes them one at a time, while the third does the reverse and begins will only one open CDP, then opens the others one by one. In each case, a penalty is applied if the customer travel distance is too long. Each heuristic was tested for each possible number of open CDPs, and the least expensive was chosen as the best solution. Each heuristic and VRP algorithm combination was tested using three delivery failure rates and different data sets: three small data sets pulled from VRP literature, and randomly generated clustered and uniformly distributed data sets with three different numbers of customers. OpenAll and OpenOne produced better solutions than Replacement in most instances, and the Sweep Algorithm outperformed the Clark-Wright in both solution quality and time in almost every test. To judge the quality of the heuristic solutions, the results were compared to the results of a simple locate-first, route-second sequential algorithm that represents the way the decision would commonly be made in industry today. The CDPs were located using a simple facility location model, then the delivery routes were created with the Sweep algorithm. These results were mixed: for the uniformly distributed data sets, if the customer travel penalty threshold and customer density are low enough, the heuristics outperform the sequential algorithm. For the clustered data sets, the sequential algorithm produces solutions as good as or slightly better than the sequential algorithm, because the location of the potential CDP inside the clusters means that the penalty has less impact, and the addition of more open CDPs has less effect on the delivery route distances. The heuristic solutions were also compared to a second value – the route costs incurred by the carrier in the current system of redeliveries, calculated by placing additional customers in the routes and running the Sweep algorithm – to judge the potential savings that could be realized by implementing a CDP system in North America. Though in some circumstances the current system is less expensive, depending on the geographic distribution of the customers and the delivery failure rate, in other circumstances the cost savings to the carrier could be as high as 27.1%. Though the decision of whether or not to set up a CDP system in an area would need to be made on a case-by-case basis, the results of this study suggest that such a system could be successful in North America. / Doctor of Philosophy / Missed deliveries are a major issue for package carriers and a source of great hassle for the customers. Either the carrier attempts to redeliver the package, incurring the additional expense of visiting the same house up to three times, or they leave the package on the doorstep, vulnerable to package thieves. In this dissertation, a system of collection-and-delivery-points (CDPs) has been proposed to improve customer service and reduce carrier costs. A CDP is a place, either in an existing business or a new location, where the carrier drops any missed deliveries and the customers can pick the packages at their convenience. To examine the viability of a CDP system in North America, a mathematical programming model was created called the CDP-LRP. Because of the size and complexity of the problem, it is unable to be solved exactly in a reasonable amount of time. Therefore, three heuristics were created to approximate the solution to the CDP-LRP, each with two different embedded modified vehicle routing problem (VRP) algorithms. For all the heuristics, a penalty is applied if the customer travel distance is too long. Each heuristic and VRP algorithm combination was tested using different data sets: three small data sets pulled from VRP literature, and randomly generated clustered and uniformly distributed data sets with three different numbers of customers. To judge the quality of the heuristic solutions, the results were compared to the results of a simple locate-first, route-second sequential algorithm that represents the way the decision would commonly be made in industry today. These results were mixed: for the uniformly distributed data sets, if the customer travel penalty threshold and customer density are low enough, the heuristics outperform the sequential algorithm. For the clustered data sets, the sequential algorithm produces solutions as good as or slightly better than the sequential algorithm, because the location of the potential CDP inside the clusters means that the penalty has less impact, and the addition of more open CDPs has less effect on the delivery route distances. The heuristic solutions were also compared to a second value – the route costs incurred by the carrier in the current system of redeliveries – to judge the potential savings that could be realized by implementing a CDP system in North America. Though in some circumstances the current system is less expensive, depending on the geographic distribution of the customers and the delivery failure rate, in other circumstances the cost savings to the carrier could be as high as 27.1%. Though the decision of whether or not to set up a CDP system in an area would need to be made on a case-by-case basis, the results of this study suggest that such a system could be successful in North America.

This thesis deals with light utility vehicle design (class N1). Apart from designing vehicle’s appearance, other goals such as finding suitable usage of this electric vehicle type or adapting design to user’s needs and new technologies available were set. Usage of light e-van as a last mile delivery vehicle is proposed and following design process takes this purpose into account. Reasoning behind determining decisions is also given in this thesis. Final design stands out with original shaping, while possibilities of colour and graphics make it easily distinguishable among other vehicles. Design also suggests multiple changes in ergonomics of the vehicle, focused mainly on driver’s comfort and overall adaptation to selected vehicle’s use.

Det ständigt växande e-handelssegmentet ställer helt nya krav på transporter inom sista milenleveranser. Sista milen är ofta förknippad med negativa externaliteter som buller, trängsel ochutsläpp och dessutom låg kostnadseffektivitet. Sista milen är därför en del i logistikkedjan somhar stor förbättringspotential. Det har därför på senare tid uppkommit en del innovationer inomsista milen som ska kunna öka effektiviteten och minska de negativa externaliteterna.I denna studie har vi, med hjälp av virtuella fokusgruppsintervjuer, undersökt åtta individersinställning till tre olika innovativa leveransmetoder; crowdsourcing, paketskåp och smarta lås.Vi har även undersökt vad det är som påverkar denna inställning och antagandet av dem, samt vilka förväntningar som individerna har på nya leveranssätt. Till vår hjälp har vi bland annat haft teori kring hur individer antar nya innovationer, vad en tjänsteinnovation är samt tidigare forskning om våra undersökta leveranssätt. Fortsättningsvis har vi även haft teori kring upplevd risk och vad som skapar värde för kunder. Med hjälp av dessa teorier kunde vi i analysen besvara våra frågeställningar. Det visade sig att deltagarna generellt sett har en negativ inställning till crowdsourcing och smarta lås som leveranssätt. Beträffande paketskåp fanns en generellt sett positiv inställning. Det var också det leveranssätt som många deltagare provat tidigare. De är generellt sett nöjda med de leveranssätt som redan existerar och därför är intresset för innovativa leveranssätt inte så stort. Vid diskussioner gällande samtligaleveranssätt fördes resonemang kopplat till värde och risk. Beträffande både inställningen tillinnovationerna och förväntningarna på dem uppfattar vi det som att relativa fördelar,komplexitet och kompatibilitet spelar stor roll vid antagande av innovationer. Även recensioneroch “word of mouth” har visat sig spela in. / A continuously growing B2C e-commerce sector creates new challenges and a differentdemand in the transport sector, especially in the final step of a logistic supply chain - the lastmile delivery. Furthermore, the last mile is also known as the least cost effective part of alogistic chain as well as the part that is associated with negative externalities like congestion,air pollution and noise pollution, especially in urban areas. Considering this, the last mile is apart with high potential of improvement. This is also why last mile delivery innovations arestarting to show up on the market.With the help of virtual focus group methodology, we have in this study aimed to investigateeight people’s attitude towards three last mile delivery innovations; crowdsourcing, parcellockers and smart locks. We have studied things that can have an affect on this attitude and the adoption of innovations, but also what expectations the customers have on last mileinnovations in general. To be able to analyze our data, we have used a variety of theories,including Diffusion of innovations theory, and theories regarding customer value, risk andservice innovation. Regarding our three service innovations, we have also included previousresearch concerning those.Our research showed a negative attitude towards crowdsourcing and smart locks, and a positive attitude towards parcel lockers, which also was the innovation that a lot of our participants had tried. In general, all participants were satisfied with existing delivery methods, why the motivating factors for using the innovations are few. Discussions regarding customer value and risk were influential in our results. We also found mutual factors in what affects attitude and expectations, factors like complexity, compatibility and relative advantages. Furthermore, reviews and word of mouth also seem to have an affect on their attitude towards the innovations.

The e-commerce market has developed massively since the 1990ies. In addition to a general change of shopping behavior, the COVID-pandemic increased the importance of online shopping. This study is about the transportation of e-commerce parcels on the last mile in urban areas, so called last-mile delivery. Special focus is put on innovative last mile solutions that reduce the externalities related to last-mile delivery. There are several factors that complicate the delivery on the last mile such as congestion, driving restrictions and meeting time-windows for customers. This study investigates to what extent the route planning for a fleet of vehicles can account for these various requirements and restrictions. The route planning was conducted in the GIS software ArcGIS Pro using the vehicle routing problem. The routes could be successfully planned and consider most of the relevant factors for last-mile delivery operations. The results indicate that traffic and congestion in cities can be accounted for which results in an average driving speed of 20km/h. The planned routes also indicate that not even 20% of the vehicle’s cargo capacity was used and that 60-65% of the total time is spent driving between orders. The study and its results are relevant to businesses and researchers in the field of last-mile delivery as the analysis of a real-world scenario highlights the possibilities and limitations of route planning on the last mile.

Environmental issues are a vital concern in today’s world. The Swedish government and local businesses are developing a sustainable business and eco-friendly environment for city inhabitants. Last-mile pickup and delivery services are a key concern, which significantly impacts the environment and society. The Norwegian/Swedish parcel delivery company Bring, the reusable waste management company Ragn-Sells, the city of Stockholm, the research institute Sustainable Innovation, and the KTH Royal Institute of Technology are jointly working together in the Intercitylog2 project with a vision to handle better last-mile pickups or deliveries that are jointly serviced by small electric vehicles from an urban micro terminal. This thesis addresses the optimizations of simultaneous pickup and delivery operations using homogeneous vehicles and considering vehicle capacity, time windows and environmental constraints. A mathematical model is developed to address the problem using an exact commercial solver. The quality of the solutions has been evaluated with real pickup and deliveries of the participating company. The primary objective function is formulated to minimize the travel cost by finding the shortest path, and the results are compared with current routing operation data. KPIs are developed and evaluated based on the facts and figures from the obtained results of the experiments. The two scenarios, big vehicles and small vehicles are also developed and evaluated to find the best route optimization opportunity for the companies. The results show that the optimized operation could decrease delivery distance by 36.72% and 37.13% and delivery time by 43.65% and 47.08% for big and small vehicles operations, respectively, compared to the current routing operations. A round trip can complete within a defined time frame to avoid the battery running out during a route. Energy constraints demonstrate that using electric vehicles considerably reduce significant amounts of CO2 emission from the environment. / Miljöfrågor är en viktig fråga i dagens värld. Den svenska regeringen och lokala företag arbetar tillsammans för att utveckla ett hållbart företagande och miljövänlig miljö för stadens invånare. Last-mile hämtning och leveranstjänster är en viktig fråga, som avsevärt påverkar miljön och samhället.Det norsk/svenska paketleveransföretaget Bring, återanvändbara avfallshanteringsföretaget Ragn- Sells, Stockholms stad, forskningsinstitutet Sustainable Innovation och Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan arbetar tillsammans i Intercitylog2-projektet för en vision för att bättre hantera last-mile pickuper eller leveranser som gemensamt betjänas av små elfordon från en urban mikroterminal. Detta examensarbete behandlar optimering av samtidiga hämtnings- och leveransoperationer med homogena fordon och med hänsyn till fordonskapacitet, tidsfönster och miljömässiga begränsningar. En matematisk modell utvecklas för att ta itu med problemet med en exakt kommersiell lösare och kvaliteten på lösningarna har utvärderats med verklig upphämtning och leveranser från det deltagande företaget. Den primära målfunktionen är formulerad för att minimera reskostnaden genom att hitta den kortaste vägen, och resultaten jämförs med aktuella ruttoperationsdata. KPI:er utvecklas och utvärderas utifrån fakta och siffror från de erhållna resultaten av experimenten. De två scenarierna, stora fordon och små fordon, är också utvecklade och utvärderade för att hitta den bästa ruttoptimeringsmöjligheten för företagen. Resultaten visar att den optimerade driften kan minska leveransavståndet med 36,72% och 37,13% och leveranstiden med 43,65% och 47,08% för stora och små fordonsoperationer, jämfört med nuvarande ruttoperationer. En tur och retur kan genomföras inom en definierad tidsram för att undvika att batteriet tar slut under en rutt. Energibegränsningar visar att användning av elfordon avsevärt minskar betydande mängder CO2-utsläpp från miljön.

In light of the growing e-commerce and rising population in cities, along with the ongoing climate crisis, the efforts to improve transportation options are intensifying. Thus, the field of last-mile delivery, i.e., the last stretch of transportation to an end customer, is becoming an increasingly researched topic. Innovative delivery solutions, leveraging novel technology or business concepts, are quickly becoming a necessity to retain customer satisfaction while performing sustainable and cost-efficient deliveries. Facing the challenges associated with the last mile is especially arduous in the context of large goods, i.e., packages which are significantly larger than parcels that would fit in a regular mail or post box, and may include furniture, home appliances and other bulky tools. Despite that large goods delivery comprises a large market, there is limited research on how novel last-mile delivery innovations, mainly discussed for application on parcels, can be deployed for larger items. This thesis is an explorative and qualitative study which starts in a background of important trends in transportation, and moves on to provide an analysis of three cities (Barcelona, San Francisco and Seoul), as well as a fourth city (Stockholm) that is both analyzed and considered for implementation. This is done in the form of a case study where data is collected from a literature review as well as interviews with representatives from the company IKEA. Various last-mile delivery concepts are explained and analyzed with Rogers’ diffusion of innovation framework. The research generated insights on how a mixture of different solutions have emerged on the studied markets, mainly based on social, technological and regulatory factors. Although most of them would be theoretically usable for medium to large goods in the future, there are different obstacles to a commercial-scale adoption today, with technological and regulatory maturity being main hurdles. Parcel deliveries play a part in driving customer expectations forward, forcing large goods retailers to evolve their deliveries in order to not lose business. Ecosystems of delivery solutions are likely to emerge in the future, catering to customers’ flexibility demands. In terms of concrete solutions, e-cargo bikes, pick-up points and neighbourhood deliveries are identified as appropriate for the current market state of Stockholm and related third party agreements, physical properties and platforms are discussed in the context of implementation. Additionally, suggestions for future research is to consider further models for generalizing implementation requirements, along with deepening the analysis of last-mile delivery ecosystems by looking into actors for the suggested solutions. / I och med ökande e-handel och stigande befolkning i städer, i kombination med en pågående klimatkris, intensifieras ansträngningar för att förbättra existerande transportalternativ. Därmed ökar mängden av forskning som fokuserar på last-mile delivery (ungefär sista milen-leverans), med andra ord den sista biten av en transportsträcka innan en vara når slutkunden. Innovativa leveranslösningar, som drar nytta av ny teknik eller nya affärsmodeller, håller snabbt på att bli en nödvändighet för att upprätthålla kundnöjdhet, samtidigt som leveransers kostnadseffektivitet och hållbarhet måste säkerställas. Utmaningarna som är associerade med sista milen är särskilt svårlösta när det kommer till stort gods, vilket är kollin som är signifikant större än vanliga paket som skulle få plats i en brevlåda eller postbox, och inkluderar bland annat möbler, vitvaror och andra skrymmande varor. Trots att leverans av stort gods utgör en omfattande marknad så är den befintliga forskningen begränsad vad gäller hur nya last-mile-innovationer kan användas för stort gods; detta diskuteras framförallt i samband med vanliga paket. Denna uppsats är en explorativ och kvalitativ studie som tar avstamp i en bakgrund som beskriver viktiga transporttrender och vidare analyserar tre städer (Barcelona, San Francisco och Seoul), samt en fjärde stad (Stockholm) som både analyseras och diskuteras för potentiell implementation. Detta utförs i form av en fallstudie där datan inkluderar en litteraturstudie samt intervjuer med representanter från företaget IKEA. Flertalet last-mile-leveranskoncept förklaras och analyseras med Rogers’ teori för innovationers spridning. Studien gav insikter om hur en blandning av olika lösningar har uppkommit på de undersökta marknaderna, i huvudsak beroende av sociala, tekniska och legala faktorer. Fastän de flesta i teorin skulle kunna appliceras på medelstort till stort gods i framtiden så finns det idag olika svårigheter som bromsar införandet av dessa på en kommersiell skala; teknisk och legal mognad verkar vara de huvudsakliga hindren. Paketleveranser spelar en viktig roll i att driva på kundernas förväntningar, vilket tvingar försäljare av stora varor att utveckla sina leveranser för att inte tappa sin omsättning. Ekosystem av leveranslösningar kommer troligen att utvecklas i framtiden för att möta kundernas krav på flexibilitet. Vad gäller konkreta lösningar identifieras elektriska lastcyklar, upphämtningsställen och grannskapsleveranser som passande för dagens Stockholm, och följande tredjepartsavtal, fysiska egenskaper och plattformar diskuteras i implementationssammanhang. Fortsatt föreslås framtida studier att överväga ytterligare modeller för att vidareutveckla och generalisera implementationskrav, samt att fördjupa analysen av ekosystem relaterade till last-mile-leveranser genom att undersöka involverade aktörer för de föreslagna lösningarna.

In recent years there has been a shift in the way consumer products are being purchased shifting from physical in-store shopping to online shopping. A vast amount of goods, express deliveries and simple returns have led to the need for new tools and methods for the delivery industry. At the same time, the environmental crisis is ongoing, and preventive regulations are being implemented in countries worldwide, directly affecting the urban transport sector. One step that has been taken by the urban transportation sector is the implementation of different types of electric vehicles for last mile deliveries of goods. The Swedish motorcycle manufacturer Cake launched their first motorcycle in 2017 and have since then launched other models. More recently Cake has brought products to the market that aim toward business to business. As a part of this effort, Cake was interested in the development of a concept within the last mile delivery sector. The purpose of the project was to investigate last mile deliveries in urban environments to learn what requirements there were on light electric freight vehicles being used. The goal was to define and develop a light electric freight vehicle concept for Cake. Following the double diamond methodology, research was conducted on state of theart, stakeholder needs and EU regulations leading to user insights and a requirements specification. Based on the insights and requirements, concepts were developed through an iterative process, leading to a final concept. The final concept was a 800mm wide trike operated by pedal assist, with the capability to transport cargo that has the area of an EUR pallet behind the driver while still being allowed in bicycle lanes. The concept was validated by building a full scale prototype and conducting tests on it against the insights and requirements specification. / De senaste åren har beteenden kring köp av konsumentprodukter fundamentalt förändrats, där handeln stadigt går från butikshandel till onlinehandel. Till följd av de stora godsmängder som cirkulerar, i kombination med att tjänster så som expressleveranser och snabba returer blir allt vanligare, så har leverans branschens behov av nya verktyg och metoder ökat. Samtidigt har den pågående miljökrisen lett till att många länder i världen implementerar en allt hårdare miljöpolitik som direkt påverkar den urbana transportsektorn. Ett steg som tagits av den urbanatransportsektorn är att implementera av olika typer av elektriska fordon ämnade för leveranser i urbana miljöer, så kallat “last mile deliveries”. Svenska motorcykeltillverkaren Cake lanserade deras första motorcykel 2017. Sedan dess har de släppt ett flertal modeller samt lanserat produkter ämnade för företagsverksamheter, även kallat“business to business”. Som en del av utvecklingen mot “business to business” var Cake intresserade av att utveckla ett koncept riktat mot “last mile deliveries”. Syftet med projektet var att undersöka “last mile deliveries” i stadsmiljöer för att förstå vilka krav som finns på lätta elektriska fraktfordon inom branschen. Målet med projektet var att definiera och utveckla ett koncept av en lätt elektrisk fraktfordon till Cake. Designprocessen strukturerades enligt “double diamond” metodologin, där forskningen bestod avanalyser av befintliga produkter på marknaden, intervjuer av personer på olika fraktbolag, samt litteraturstudier av forskningsrapporter samt EU-regler. Insikterna ledde till användar-insikter samt en kravspecifikation. Baserat på insikterna och kravspecifikationen utvecklades ett koncept genom en iterativ process. Slutkonceptet var en 800mm bred trehjulig eldriven cykel med en lastkapacitet på minst 1 kubikmeter. Konceptet validerades med tester på en fullskalig prototyp, där funktioner och geometri utvärderades mot kravspecifikationen.

This doctoral thesis represents pioneering research in integrating Smart Mobile Lockers with City Buses (SML-CBs) for e-commerce last-mile delivery, a novel concept rooted in the sharing economy. It explores the innovative use of underutilized urban bus capacities for parcel transportation while incorporating smart parcel lockers to facilitate self-pick-up by customers. Comprising six chapters, the thesis delineates its background, motivations, contributions, and organization in Chapter 1. Chapter 2 presents a comprehensive review of the recent literature on last-mile freight deliveries, including a bibliometric analysis, identifying gaps and opportunities for SML-CBs intervention. In Chapter 3, using survey data, we conduct empirical analytics to study Canadian consumers’ attitudes towards adopting SML-CBs, focusing on deterrents such as excessive walking distances to pick-up locations and incentives led by environmental concerns. This chapter also pinpoints demographic segments likely to be early adopters of this innovative delivery system. To address the concerns over walking distances identified in Chapter 3, Chapter 4 presents a prescriptive model and algorithms aimed at minimizing customer walking distance to self-pick-up points, considering the assignment of SML-CBs and customers. The case study results endorse the convenience of SML-CBs in terms of short walking distances. To systematically assess the sustainability benefits, a key motivator identified in Chapter 3, Chapter 5 includes analytical models for pricing and accessibility of SML-CBs. It also employs a hybrid life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology to analyze the sustainability performance of SML-CBs. It establishes system boundaries, develops pertinent LCA parameters, and illustrates substantial greenhouse gas (GHG) savings in both operational and life cycle phases when SML-CBs are utilized instead of traditional delivery trucks. The dissertation is concluded in Chapter 6, summarizing the principal contributions and suggesting avenues for future research. This comprehensive study not only provides empirical and analytical evidence supporting the feasibility and advantages of SML-CBs but also contributes to the literature on sustainable logistics and urban freight deliveries. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / This doctoral thesis represents pioneering research in integrating Smart Mobile Lockers with City Buses (SML-CBs) for e-commerce last-mile delivery. It explores the innovative use of underutilized urban bus capacities for parcel transportation while incorporating smart parcel lockers to facilitate self-pick-up by customers. Comprising six chapters, the thesis delineates its background, motivations, contributions, and organization in Chapter 1. Chapter 2 presents a comprehensive review of the recent literature on lastmile freight deliveries. In Chapter 3, we study Canadian consumers’ attitudes towards adopting SML-CBs, focusing on deterrents such as excessive walking distances to pickup locations and incentives led by environmental concerns. To address the concerns over walking distances identified in Chapter 3, Chapter 4 presents models and algorithms for operating SML-CBs. Chapter 5 presents an assessment of the sustainability of SML-CBs. The dissertation is concluded in Chapter 6, summarizing the principal contributions and suggesting avenues for future research.

This dissertation integrates the strengths of individual emergent delivery technologies with package characteristics, and rural community needs to meet the demand for equitable, accessible, and inclusive rural delivery that is also cost-effective. To find ways to meet the package delivery service needs in rural areas and to fill research gaps in rural package delivery modeling, this study introduced a novel model known as the Parallel Scheduling Vehicle Routing Problem (PSVRP) in an endeavor to revolutionize package delivery by enhancing its efficiency, accessibility, and cost-effectiveness. The PSVRP represents a state-of-the-art approach to vehicle routing problems, incorporating a diversified fleet of innovative delivery modes. The multi-modal fleet of electric vans, ADVs, drones, and truck-drone systems works in unison to minimize operational costs in various settings. A solution methodology that implemented the Adaptive Large Neighborhood Search (ALNS) algorithm was designed to solve the PSVRP in this research to produce optimal or near-optimal solutions. A variety of scenarios in a rural setting that include different quantities of customers to deliver to and different package weights are tested to evaluate if a multi-modal fleet of electric vans, ADVs, drones, and truck-drone systems can provide cost-effective, low emissions, and efficient rural delivery services from local stores. Different fleet combinations are compared to demonstrate the best combined fleet for rural package delivery. It was found that implementation of electric vans, ADVs, drones, and truck-drone systems does decrease rural package delivery cost, but it does not yet decrease cost enough for the return on investment to be high enough for industry to implement the technology. Additionally, it was found that electric technologies do significantly decrease emissions of package delivery in rural areas. However, without a carbon tax or regulation mandating reduced carbon emissions, it is unlikely that the delivery industry will quickly embrace these new delivery modes. This dissertation not only advances academic understanding and practical applications in vehicle routing problems but also contributes to social equity by researching methods to improve delivery services in underserved rural communities. The PSVRP model could benefit transportation professionals considering technology-enabled rural delivery, developing rural delivery plans, looking for cost-effective rural delivery solutions, implementing a heterogeneous fleet to optimize rural delivery, or planning to reduce rural delivery emissions. It is anticipated that these innovations will spur further research and investment into rural delivery optimization, fostering a more inclusive and accessible package delivery service landscape. / Doctor of Philosophy / This dissertation integrates the strengths of individual emergent delivery technologies with package characteristics, and rural community needs to meet the demand for equitable, accessible, and inclusive rural delivery that is also cost-effective. To find ways to meet the package delivery service needs in rural areas and to fill research gaps in rural package delivery modeling, this study introduced a novel model known as the Parallel Scheduling Vehicle Routing Problem (PSVRP) in an endeavor to revolutionize package delivery by enhancing its efficiency, accessibility, and cost-effectiveness. The PSVRP represents a state-of-the-art approach to vehicle routing problems, incorporating a diversified fleet of innovative delivery modes. The multi-modal fleet of electric vans, ADVs, drones, and truck-drone systems works in unison to minimize operational costs in various settings. A solution methodology that implemented the Adaptive Large Neighborhood Search (ALNS) algorithm was designed to solve the PSVRP in this research to produce optimal or near-optimal solutions. A variety of scenarios in a rural setting that include different quantities of customers to deliver to and different package weights are tested to evaluate if a multi-modal fleet of electric vans, ADVs, drones, and truck-drone systems can provide cost-effective, low emissions, and efficient rural delivery services from local stores. Different fleet combinations are compared to demonstrate the best combined fleet for rural package delivery. It was found that implementation of electric vans, ADVs, drones, and truck-drone systems does decrease rural package delivery cost, but it does not yet decrease cost enough for the return on investment to be high enough for industry to implement the technology. Additionally, it was found that electric technologies do significantly decrease emissions of package delivery in rural areas. However, without a carbon tax or regulation mandating reduced carbon emissions, it is unlikely that the delivery industry will quickly embrace these new delivery modes. This dissertation not only advances academic understanding and practical applications in vehicle routing problems but also contributes to social equity by researching methods to improve delivery services in underserved rural communities. The PSVRP model could benefit transportation professionals considering technology-enabled rural delivery, developing rural delivery plans, looking for cost-effective rural delivery solutions, implementing a heterogeneous fleet to optimize rural delivery, or planning to reduce rural delivery emissions. It is anticipated that these innovations will spur further research and investment into rural delivery optimization, fostering a more inclusive and accessible package delivery service landscape.

In recent years, companies such as Amazon and DHL have started to develop alternative last-mile delivery options because of the growing trend in e-commerce. Last-mile deliveries refer to the terminal to customer deliveries and have become increasingly challenging to manage, as traffic congestions in cities has risen. Therefore, companies have begun searching for alternative delivery methods, such as autonomous drones or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV). The purpose of this thesis is to investigate drones in the current literature on last-mile delivery. First, by conducting a systematic literature review on the current literature available in two major databases. Second, by analyzing the collected literature sample and presenting it through a descriptive analysis focusing on bibliometrics and a thematic analysis that identifies emerging themes for drivers for drones’ application in last-mile delivery, barriers for drones’ application in last-mile delivery, and approaches for implementing drones in last-mile delivery.                        Drones’ application in last-mile delivery has the potential to reduce cost, decrease delivery time, reduce emissions, and reduce energy consumption. However, barriers that hinder the implementation, such as governmental regulations, need further consideration for the implementation to occur. Some evident gaps can be found related to the barriers. Both managers and researchers might find the thesis useful, as it provides a holistic view on the subject, with theoretical, managerial, and societal implications being presented.