The design of a multimodal logistics service network with customer service time windows and environmental costs is an important and challenging issue. Accordingly, this work established a model to minimize the total cost of multimodal logistics service network design with time windows and environmental concerns. The proposed model incorporates CO₂ emission costs to determine the optimal transportation mode combinations and investment selections for transfer nodes, which consider transport cost, transport time, carbon emission, and logistics service time window constraints. Furthermore, genetic and heuristic algorithms are proposed to set up the abovementioned optimal model. A numerical example is provided to validate the model and the abovementioned two algorithms. Then, comparisons of the performance of the two algorithms are provided. Finally, this work investigates the effects of the logistics service time windows and CO₂ emission taxes on the optimal solution. Several important management insights are obtained.

Based on an analysis of the congestion effect and changes in the speed of vehicle flow during morning and evening peaks in a large- or medium-sized city, the piecewise function is used to capture the rules of the time-varying speed of vehicles, which are very important in modelling their fuel consumption and CO₂ emission. A joint optimization model of the green vehicle scheduling and routing problem with time-varying speeds is presented in this study. Extra wages during nonworking periods and soft time-window constraints are considered. A heuristic algorithm based on the adaptive large neighborhood search algorithm is also presented. Finally, a numerical simulation example is provided to illustrate the optimization model and its algorithm. Results show that, (1) the shortest route is not necessarily the route that consumes the least energy, (2) the departure time influences the vehicle fuel consumption and CO₂ emissions and the optimal departure time saves on fuel consumption and reduces CO₂ emissions by up to 5.4%, and (3) extra driver wages have significant effects on routing and departure time slot decisions.

This study considers a design problem in the supply chain network of an assembly manufacturing enterprise with economies of scale and environmental concerns. The study aims to obtain a rational tradeoff between environmental influence and total cost. A mixed-integer nonlinear programming model is developed to determine the optimal location and size of regional distribution centers (RDCs) and the investment of environmental facilities considering the effects of economies of scale and CO₂ emission taxes. Numerical examples are provided to illustrate the applications of the proposed model. Moreover, comparative analysis of the related key parameters is conducted (i.e., carbon emission tax, logistics demand of customers, and economies of scale of RDC), to explore the corresponding effects on the network design of a green supply chain. Moreover, the proposed model is applied in an actual case—network design of a supply chain of an electric meter company in China. Findings show that (i) the optimal location of RDCs is affected by the demand of customers and the level of economies of scale and that (ii) the introduction of CO₂ emission taxes will change the structure of a supply chain network, which will decrease CO₂ emissions per unit shipment.

This study investigates a multimodal green logistics network design problem of urban agglomeration with stochastic demand, in which different logistics authorities among the different cities jointly optimize the logistics node configurations and uniform carbon taxes over logistics transport modes to maximize the total social welfare of urban agglomeration and consider logistics users’ choice behaviors. The users’ choice behaviors are captured by a logit-based stochastic equilibrium model. To describe the game behaviors of logistics authorities in urban agglomeration, the problem is formulated as two nonlinear bilevel programming models, namely, independent and centralized decision models. Next, a quantum-behaved particle swarm optimization (QPSO) embedded with a Method of Successive Averages (MSA) is presented to solve the proposed models. Simulation results show that to achieve the overall optimization layout of the green logistics network in urban agglomeration the logistics authorities should adopt centralized decisions, construct a multimode logistics network, and make a reasonable carbon tax.

This paper investigates the joint optimization problem on the logistics infrastructure investment and CO₂ emission taxes for a sustainable city logistics network design by a goal programming approach where the cost recovery, service level and CO₂ emission reduction goals are involved. The above multi-objective logistics infrastructure capacity investment and CO₂ emission taxes problem is formulated as a bi-level goal programming model. Given the priority structure of the goals, the total deviations from predetermined goals are minimized in the upper level, while the lower level of the model serves as the service route choice equilibrium problem of logistics users. To solve the proposed model, a genetic algorithm is developed, where the method of successive average (MSA) is embedded. The case study focusing on the urban logistics network of Changsha, China demonstrates the effectiveness of the bi-level goal programming model and the genetic algorithm. The findings reveal that the priority rankings of the goals have a significant impact on the joint decisions of CO₂ emission taxes and logistics infrastructure capacity investment. The proposed methodology provides an avenue to balance multiple conflicting objectives and obtain an economical and environmental city logistics network.