Urban Sharing Logistics Strategies against Epidemic Outbreaks: Its Feasibility and Sustainability

Abstract

Epidemic (e.g., COVID-19) outbreaks can seriously disrupt logistics, and the coordination of intercity logistics and urban distribution plays an important role in goods distribution. In previous studies, some scholars analyzed different sharing logistics mechanisms for cost reduction and efficiency improvement, while others analyzed the disruption problems in both logistics and supply chain management. In this study, we combine these two operational management philosophies and first develop a two-echelon logistics benchmark model (BM), with two intercity logistics companies and two urban distribution companies, taking into consideration the load ratio and the disruption factor. This is the first time that the load ratio is considered in research on logistics, and it will make the supply and demand as well as the cost structure of logistics services much more practical. We then develop three urban sharing logistics models with two intercity logistics companies and one urban sharing logistics distribution company, with the sharing mechanisms SM1 (only sharing logistics), SM2 (sharing logistics with revenue sharing), and SM3 (sharing logistics with equity investment). We compare the pros and cons of the three sharing mechanisms and identify the optimal and suboptimal Pareto improvements for the BM. We identify different sharing decisions with respect to different load ratios and the disruption ratio. Finally, we analyze the sustainability of the three sharing mechanisms from the load ratio, low-carbon, and low-disruption dimensions. The managerial implications drawn from the model and case study provide a practice framework for sharing logistics operations: vertical integration, the standardization of logistics technology and equipment, and coordination and sharing.