Receivers-led delivery consolidation policy: Estimating the characteristics of the most interested businesses to participate

Abstract

There is an urgent need to develop policy solutions to the negative externalities caused by last mile deliveries, especially in increasingly high-density urban areas. The Receiver-led delivery consolidation (RLC) policy has the potential to significantly reduce the number of deliveries to receivers. However, empirical evidence shows wide variance in their success, possibly driven by the relative willingness of receivers to accept RLC policy. Accordingly, the purpose of this paper is to examine and model receivers' willingness to participate in the RLC service. Using a stated-preference survey, behavioural responses were collected from businesses in 13 sub-industries based in Melbourne's CBD, Australia. The businesses' preferences were estimated using an ordered logit model to identify the characteristics that could drive willingness to participate. The modelling results illustrate that the receivers' willingness to participate in the RLC service is significantly influenced by the intensity of their delivery activities and the sub-industry. Furthermore, the policy implications are discussed to facilitate setting suitable and relevant RLC policy variables for the most willing receivers.