Purpose: This paper discusses logistics service providers' (LSPs’) energy efficiency initiatives for sustainable development, both from an evolutionary perspective and based on a framework consisting of actions, processes (i.e. at the operations interface) and services (i.e. at the customer interface).Design/methodology/approach: Following a qualitative research design, semi-structured interviews were conducted with sustainability managers at LSPs and the data were analysed via inductive coding. Based on the results and the literature, the authors developed a maturity model for LSPs' transitions to environmental sustainability.Findings: LSPs' sustainable development occurs via operational processes, services at the customer interface, and actions that support those processes and services. Energy efficiency efforts are characterised by process depth that helps LSPs to align with their customers' energy efficiency improvement processes. While services related to energy efficiency connect LSPs and their customers, actions in support vary depending on the logistics activities in which LSPs participate.Research limitations/implications: Further research is needed to test and verify the maturity model and to clarify the interdependency of its three dimensions.Practical implications: By categorising energy efficiency initiatives and proposing a maturity model for LSPs' sustainable development via energy efficiency, the authors have developed a tool for logistics actors to assess their progress towards improved sustainability.Originality/value: The paper contributes to the literature by providing a three-pillar framework to understand the sustainability transitions of LSPs through energy efficiency. Developing a maturity model using this framework also contributes to the literature with an approach to assess sustainability advancement in the logistics industry.

Logistics operations are energy-consuming and impact the environment negatively. Improving energy efficiency in logistics is crucial for environmental sustainability and can be achieved by increasing the utilisation of capacity. This paper takes an interactive approach to capacity utilisation, to contribute to sustainable freight transport and logistics, by identifying its causes and mitigations. From literature, a conceptual framework was developed to highlight different system levels in the logistics system, in which the energy efficiency improvement potential can be found and that are summarised in the categories activities, actors, and areas. Through semi-structured interviews with representatives of nine companies, empirical data was collected to validate the framework of the causes of the unutilised capacity and proposed mitigations. The results suggest that activities, such as inflexibilities and limited information sharing as well as actors’ over-delivery of logistics services, incorrect price setting, and sales campaigns can cause unutilised capacity, and that problem areas include i.a. poor integration of reversed logistics and the last mile. The paper contributes by categorising causes of unutilised capacity and linking them to mitigations in a framework, providing a critical view towards fill rates, highlighting the need for a standardised approach to measure environmental impact that enables comparison between companies and underlining that costs are not an appropriate indicator for measuring environmental impact.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the sustainability of waste supply chains regarding the energy efficiency of first-mile waste collection systems and quality of waste. Roles of actors in the waste service triad are considered, particularly focusing on households. Design/methodology/approach: Primary data are collected from respondents including municipality officers, waste service providers (WSPs) and households through brainstorming sessions, semi-structured interviews, site visits and a focus group. Secondary data are collected from official reports for validation. Findings: Findings reveal tension between the energy efficiency of waste collection logistics and the quality of waste collected. Households are co-producers of logistic services providing important inputs in the form of sorting and moving waste and raw materials into new cycles of goods circulating in logistics systems. Other actors in the logistics service triad are the municipality as regulator and the WSP acting as a reverse-logistics service provider. Practical implications: This study provides principles for policymakers and practitioners to evaluate the energy efficiency of waste management options, considering the quality of waste. Also, “logistics services” and “quality of waste” as concepts might provoke new thoughts on how to involve the consumer in resource recovery. Originality/value: Few studies have focused on the end-consumer’s role in waste supply chains. By considering waste as a resource and the consumer as the supplier of this input, this study provides a new way to think about logistics services for waste collection.

Purpose: Service modularity promotes efficiency at the provider end of the supply chain and customisation at the customer end. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how logistics service modularity contributes to sustainable development through the means of energy efficiency. This is analysed in the context of logistics services for household waste collection.Design/methodology/approach: A single case study methodology with embedded units is adopted where semi-structured interviews were conducted with a waste service provider (WSP) and buyers (municipalities) in Sweden, focussing on five types of logistics services for waste collection: collection of food and residual waste at apartments and one-family houses, as well as collection of gardening waste. Service modules are identified and analysed by blueprinting the service.Findings: The findings show different service modules – standardised or customised – and their contribution to sustainable development operationalised through energy efficiency. Principles for an energy-centric service design are proposed.Research limitations/implications: The research is limited to Swedish household waste collection setting. Promising efficiency through standardisation, logistics service modularity has a potential to improve energy efficiency as well. This neglected link between sustainability and service modularity offers fruitful research avenues.Practical implications: This research is of practical relevance to waste logistics service providers and the municipality by suggesting principles for energy-centric service design. The service blueprint enables using logistics service modularity for improving energy efficiency in different logistics service settings.Originality/value: This research incorporates an environmentally sustainable development perspective into logistics service modularity and contributes to the literature by exploring how energy efficiency is improved by modular design of logistics services. Furthermore, the study is one of the first to use service blueprinting to analyse logistics service modularity, providing a methodological contribution to that field in general and logistics in particular.

Godstransporter är en grundläggande förutsättning för samhällsekonomisk utveckling, näringslivets konkurrenskraft och tillgången till varor, men står samtidigt för en betydande andel av Sveriges växthusgasutsläpp. Att minska transporternas klimatpåverkan utan att hämma ekonomisk utveckling är därför en central utmaning. Ökad transporteffektivitet lyfts ofta fram som en nyckelstrategi, men dess potential är svår att bedöma eftersom effektivitet definieras, mäts och påverkas på olika sätt inom godstransportsystemets många delsystem. Syftet med projektet är att utveckla och operationalisera ändamålsenliga, tillförlitliga, åtkomliga och kostnadseffektiva effektivitetsmått för analys av det svenska godstransportsystemet, samt att öka förståelsen för hur effektiviseringsåtgärder påverkar olika aktörer och systemnivåer. Studien tillämpar en kombination av top-down- och bottom-up-ansatser för att integrera ett samhällsperspektiv med ett företagsperspektiv. Metodiskt bygger arbetet på analys av nationell statistik för utveckling av effektivitetsmått. Två indikatorer har tagits fram: (1) klimateffektiva godstransporter [g CO2e/tkm], som relaterar växthusgasutsläpp till transporterat gods och avstånd, samt (2) energieffektiva godstransporter [MJ/tkm], som relaterar energianvändning till transportarbete. Arbetet kompletteras med empiriska fallstudier av kommunal samordning, förpackningsutformning och leveransservicekrav. Vidare utvecklas ett analytiskt ramverk för att synliggöra effektsamband samt avvägningar (trade-offs) mellan effektivitet, kostnad, miljöpåverkan och servicenivå. Resultaten visar att transporteffektivitet i godstransportsystemet är en komplex och flerdimensionell fråga, där varierande mål, incitament och systemgränser mellan aktörer försvårar både analys och styrning. Effektiviseringar på företagsnivå kan ge upphov till målkonflikter och suboptimeringar på systemnivå, och vice versa. Studien visar därför behovet av ett sammanhållet systemperspektiv, där företagsnära indikatorer kombineras med samhällsövergripande mått och där både relativa effektivitetstal och totala utsläpp följs upp. Projektets resultat utgör ett kunskapsunderlag för mer informerade beslut och framtida policyutveckling mot ett hållbart, konkurrenskraftigt och robust godstransportsystem.

This chapter investigates the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Sweden's freight transport system, utilizing in-depth analyses of heavy-duty vehicle movements, goods flow through Swedish ports, and interviews. Through an examination covering the years 2020 and 2021 as well as the pre-pandemic period of 2017–2019, the study offers valuable insights into how the pandemic influenced Sweden's transport system. It illuminates changes and adaptations within the freight transport system during the COVID-19 pandemic, such as innovative logistics solutions, digitalization, and automation processes, revealing the system's resilience. Additionally, the chapter compares the pandemic's effects with concurrent disruptive events such as Brexit and the Suez Canal blockage, as well as the financial crisis of 2008–2009. Unlike typical economic downturns characterized by reduced demand, the pandemic resulted in continuous freight transport demand that was difficult to meet at times, characterizing it as a “supply crisis.” Concluding with key findings and recommendations for policymaking and research, the chapter underscores the importance of agile responses and crisis management protocols, advocating for enhancements in digital infrastructure, research and development support, and industry collaboration.