Work

Strategic Planning for Sustainable Last-Mile Logistics: Balancing Airspace Constraints and Carbon Price Uncertainty in Truck-Drone Delivery

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: The accelerated growth of e-commerce has intensified the dual challenges of weak infrastructure and carbon emission pressures in last-mile delivery for rural and mountainous regions. As the World Bank calls for integrating carbon market development into national strategies, Truck-Drone Collaborative Delivery (TDCD) has emerged as a critical sustainable solution. However, existing research often overlooks the strict airspace regulations in sensitive border areas. Therefore, this paper proposes a Vehicle Routing Problem with Drones and Mobile Base Stations (VRPDBS) model that explicitly incorporates airspace constraints and mobile hub deployment. We introduce a quantified “Regional Flyability Factor” (fk) to measure the impact of airspace restrictions on routing decisions and solve the problem using a hybrid metaheuristic algorithm. A case study based on real-world data from the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture reveals that strict airspace compliance imposes an absolute delivery delay of 4–5 h and an operational cost premium of up to 15%, an impact that can be effectively mitigated through a mobile base station mediation strategy. More importantly, multi-scenario sensitivity analysis under carbon price uncertainty indicates that although truck-dominant modes are cost-effective at current low carbon prices, drone-intensive configurations demonstrate superior economic robustness and environmental performance under high carbon price scenarios. This study not only provides a technical framework for green logistics planning in complex airspace but also offers strategic decision support for logistics enterprises to navigate long-term climate policy risks.

Source: Sustainability

DOI: 10.3390/su18083978

Authors: Chengyou Cui, Jingwen Li

Institution: Yanbian University

Language: English

Topic: Vehicle Routing Optimization Methods

Subfield: Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

Field: Engineering

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDGs: Industry, innovation and infrastructure, Climate action, Sustainable cities and communities

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $2,896