Last mile freight distribution and transport operators’ needs: which targets and challenges?

The paper aims at investigating the needs of three sets of stakeholders – retailers and HoReCa, transport operators and local authorities – aimed at designing a dynamic and participatory platform of services and applications for the optimisation of the last mile urban logistics. The research has been carried out in the city of Torino where some integrated services will be introduced: a) management and booking of loading/unloading areas; b) experimental dropbox for collection and delivery; c) the introduction of dynamic access to the limited traffic zone (ZTL, Zona a Traffico Limitato); d) real-time dynamic optimisation of routes. To meet this goal a survey has been administered to a sample of transport operators, points of sale, public administration. The survey has been designed using a quali-quantitative method (web-questionnaire, interviews and focus groups). The results have showed a large gap between the needs of the operators (transport operators and retailers) and the strategies that the administration would seek to implement. A lack of interaction between the stakeholders has led to misperceive the problems that the carriers have to face daily and to overestimate the importance of the technology in solving the last mile issues. Prior to designing complex and expensive platforms, it is fundamental to implement some basic measures, closely related to the efficiency of the unloading and delivery of goods within the urban centre.