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An Investigation of Multimodal Transport for Last Mile Delivery in Rural Areas

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  • Xiaofei Kou

    (School of Management Engineering, Zhengzhou University of Aeronautics, Zhengzhou 450046, China)

  • Yanqi Zhang

    (School of Management Engineering, Zhengzhou University of Aeronautics, Zhengzhou 450046, China)

  • Die Long

    (Office of Industrial Administration, Zhengzhou University of Aeronautics, Zhengzhou 450046, China)

  • Xuanyu Liu

    (School of Management Engineering, Zhengzhou University of Aeronautics, Zhengzhou 450046, China)

  • Liangliang Qie

    (School of Chemistry and Material Science, Hubei Engineering University, Xiaogan 432000, China)

Abstract

High distribution costs constitute one of the major obstacles to the sustainable development of rural logistics. In order to effectively reduce the distribution costs of last mile delivery in rural areas, based on three typical transport modes (local logistics providers, public transport, and crowdsourcing logistics), this study first proposes a multimodal transport design for last mile delivery in rural areas. Then, a cost–benefit model for multimodal transport is proposed which uses genetic algorithms (GA) to solve the logistical problems faced. Finally, Shapley value is used to fairly allocate profits and represent the marginal contribution of each mode in multimodal transport. The numerical results show that multimodal transport can effectively reduce the distribution costs of last mile delivery in rural areas. When the order demand of each node tends to be stable, the marginal contribution of crowdsourcing logistics is often greater than that of the other two distribution modes. The marginal contribution of public transport is highest only when the number of orders per node is very small.

Suggested Citation

  • Xiaofei Kou & Yanqi Zhang & Die Long & Xuanyu Liu & Liangliang Qie, 2022. "An Investigation of Multimodal Transport for Last Mile Delivery in Rural Areas," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(3), pages 1-15, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:3:p:1291-:d:731977
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Yadong Li & Ning Ding & Tingting Zhao & Maowei Chen, 2025. "What Drives or Hinders the Adoption of Sustainable Smart Logistics in Rural Areas?—A Mixed-Methods Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(14), pages 1-28, July.
    2. Alexander Wyrowski & Nils Boysen & Dirk Briskorn & Stefan Schwerdfeger, 2024. "Public transport crowdshipping: moving shipments among parcel lockers located at public transport stations," OR Spectrum: Quantitative Approaches in Management, Springer;Gesellschaft für Operations Research e.V., vol. 46(3), pages 873-907, September.
    3. Małgorzata Markowska & Jakub Marcinkowski, 2022. "Rural E-Customers’ Preferences for Last Mile Delivery: Evidence from Poland," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(22), pages 1-15, November.
    4. Chang-Gyun Roh & Jiyoon Kim, 2022. "What Are More Efficient Transportation Services in a Rural Area? A Case Study in Yangsan City, South Korea," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(18), pages 1-24, September.
    5. Cavallaro, Federico & Nocera, Silvio, 2023. "Flexible-route integrated passenger–freight transport in rural areas," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).
    6. Ziyu Chen & Jili Kong, 2023. "Research on Shared Logistics Decision Based on Evolutionary Game and Income Distribution," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-24, May.

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