李双艳，贺润中 ，何亦扬，邹方姿

^aSchool of Traffic & Transportation Engineering, Central South University,Changsha Hunan, 410075, China

Abstract

This paper proposes a new model of simultaneous optimization of three-level logistics decisions for logistics authorities, logistics operators and logistics users, for regional logistics network with environmental impact consideration. The proposed model addresses the interaction among the three logistics players in a complete competitive logistics service market with CO₂ emission charges. We also explicitly incorporate the impacts of the scale economics of the logistics park and the logistics users’ demand elasticity into the model. The logistics authorities aim to maximize the total social welfare of the system, considering the demand of green logistics development by two different methods: optimal location of logistics nodes and charging a CO₂emission tax. Logistics operators are assumed to compete by  logistics service fare and frequency, while logistics users  minimize their own perceived logistics disutility given logistics operators’ service fare and frequency. A heuristic algorithm based on the multinomial logit model is presented for the three-level decision model, and a numerical example is given to illustrate the above optimal model and its algorithm. The proposed model provides a useful tool for modeling competitive logistics services and evaluating logistics policies at the strategic level.

Keywords: green logistics; regional logistics network; three-level hierarchical optimal decision

1. Introduction

Environmental issues have recently attracted considerable public attention around the world. There is a wide consensus that freight transportation is a major contributor to climate change and global warming is due to various pollution emissions. It has been shown that freight transportation contributes to about 5.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions (McKinnon, 2010). The report on CO₂emissions in 25 European countries during 1990-2005 also indicated that about 26% of total CO₂emissions in the air come from transportation. During logistics service activities, the CO₂emissions from transportation amounts to 93% of total pollution emissions, while the warehousing only covers 7% (Decker, 2011). It is, therefore, very important and urgent to create an environmentally sustainable logistics system.

Green logistics focuses on improvement of logistics service efficiency, decrease in logistics cost, and reduction in environmental externalities (e.g. CO₂) so as to achieve a sustainable balance among economic, environmental and social objectives (Dekker et al., 2012; McKinnon et al., 2010). Aronsson (2006) showed that logistics efficiency and cost were not only related to the structure of supply chains, but also the logistics network design and logistics infrastructure. As an important component of a regional logistics system (or urban logistics system), logistics network design is a strategic issue, involving logistics facility planning and sustainable logistics management policy-making (Beškovnik and Twrdy, 2012; Lindholm and Behrends, 2012). 

Various logistics centers have recently been established in large cities for quickly distributing freight. However, this raises many important issues, such as traffic congestion, air pollution and high energy consumption. To efficiently cope with these issues, it is proposed to combine multiple logistics centers into a logistics park. A logistics park, which is also referred to as “logistics village” in Germany, “distribution park” in Japan, and “logistics platform” in Spain, is a specially important component of the regional logistics network. A logistics park implies a spatial concentration area for grouping various activities, such as transportation, distribution, warehousing, commercial trade, and other related services (such as maintenance and repair). It is also an intersection of different transport modes, and an interface between local traffic and long-distance traffic (Rodrigue et al., 2009; Wagener, 2008).