Adding trips to reduce travel times: optimising logistics with mobile depots

This study explores the benefits of integrating mobile depots into urban last-mile logistics. Although the deployment of zero-emission light vehicles, such as cargo bikes, has addressed key challenges, it has also created a need for more flexible warehousing. Mobile depots, i.e., vehicles functioning as dynamic storage hubs, ofer this flexibility by supporting last-mile operations within designated urban districts. We propose a partitioning approach that combines a Mixed-Integer Linear Program (MILP), which optimises the scheduling of depot routes, with a set of routing subproblems that address local demand at each depot stop. Using a case study in Oxford, England, we demonstrate that mobile depots, when paired with our optimisation method, can significantly reduce total travel times. This improvement is largely attributed to the depot’s mobility that enables vehicles to make shorter (re-)loading trips. These fndings contribute to the broader discussion on mobile warehousing models and their potential applications in various sectors, including manufacturing and supply chain management.