Search

E -commerce's rapid expansion has transformed consumer shopping habits and business operations. While it offers the potential to reduce customer trips, it has also contributed to increased vehicle kilometres travelled (VKT) by delivery vehicles, resulting in elevated greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, especially in last-mile deliveries. This paper proposes a spatial approach to address the uncapacitated single allocation hub covering problem (USAHCP) to reduce the VKT by optimising the number and location of logistics hub. In this approach, the spatial features and strategic legislation of metropolitan areas are analysed. Integrating existing models, this location-based approach aims to design a collaborative last mile distribution network by locating micro-consolidation centres (MCCs) in metropolitan areas to service parcel lockers where end customers pick up their parcels. The method is applied to Sydney, Australia, using data provided by the largest courier companies in Australia. The results show that incorporating MCCs in the network reduces VKT due to their proximity to final destinations. Sensitivity analyses are conducted by differentiating maximum driving time constraints and specific times of day reflecting traffic patterns. The results provide significant advantages for logistics stakeholders, notably Transport for NSW, by reducing VKT and GHG emissions. Moreover, the developed method can be utilised by carriers and shippers in their strategic and operational decisions to enhance overall delivery speed and reliability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An extensive set of experiments were conducted in this study to evaluate the impacts of different levels of loading and unloading on compressibility characteristics of landfill waste materials. To achieve this purpose, a large undisturbed waste sample with a diameter of 250 mm was collected from a landfill site, in Sydney. The collected sample was composed of mainly construction waste, decayed organic material, wood, metal, plastic, glass, paper, and cardboard. A large diameter Rowe cell setup was utilised to saturate the undisturbed sample followed by multi-stage unloading and reloading consolidation and creep tests, lasting approximately 330 days. The testing data on the landfill waste were used to determine the compression and recompression indices, as well as the coefficient of consolidation and creep index. These experimental results demonstrate that the compressibility parameters of the collected landfill material significantly depend on the loading history, and in particular, the over consolidation ratio. The findings revealed that the stress history of the waste material has a significant effect on the primary settlement and its rate as well as the long-term creep rate. Thus, it is inferred that the application of the preloading method can improve the compressibility parameters and significantly reduce the post-construction consolidation and creep settlement of landfills. • Rowe cell was utilised for unloading and reloading consolidation and creep tests on landfill waste from Sydney for 330 days. • Correlations were established forvariations of coefficient of consolidation and creep index with over consolidation ratio. • Preloading for closed landfill sites can significantly reduce the post-construction settlement of the waste including creep. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]