The paper explores the key role of the last mile in the evolution of supply chains, with a focus on identifying challenges and solutions applied in the last phase of delivery. Today's challenges for logistics operators have significantly evolved over the past two decades due to current and growing trends. With the rise of e-commerce and urbanization, the last mile becomes a crucial point of competition, where fast, customized, and sustainable delivery emerges as an imperative for all involved stakeholders. The paper is divided into three parts. The first part refers to the identification of challenges faced by logistics operators in the last phase of the supply chain. The second part of the paper provides an overview of existing solutions and strategies that can be used to respond to challenges in the last mile of delivery. The third part offers case studies that provide a comparative cost analysis using different strategies in the last mile of delivery. Through the analysis of various solutions and strategies in the final stage of the supply chain, different aspects of efficiency and costs are illuminated in various scenarios. Understanding these dynamics is crucial for shaping the future of delivery that is efficient, sustainable, and tailored to the needs of the modern consumer.

Increasing demands for logistics services cause several challenges related to total costs and meeting global environmental requirements. Logistic operators make efforts to improve all logistic processes and the distribution chain system by optimizing distribution networks and transport routes. Also, using clean or renewable energy help to meet the above-mentioned requirements by using environmentally friendly means of transportation such as electric and hybrid vehicles. The replacement of conventional with electric vehicles provides numerous benefits for improving the efficiency of the distribution chain system. This process is part of the concept known as Green Logistics, which strives to minimize the environmental impact of the logistics network and delivery. This paper focuses on identification of indicators for evaluating the acceptability of replacing conventional vehicles with electric vehicles in the fleet of logistics operators. We propose an evaluation matrix based on key indicators such as total costs, eco score fleet rating, and range and energy supply of vehicles. We use these indicators to determine the advantages, challenges, and possibilities of introducing electric vehicles in the logistics operator’s fleet. Also, we conducted a multi-criteria analysis of replacing conventional with electric vehicles in the fleet of one logistics operator.

The Covid-19 pandemic has a direct impact on the social, economic, political, and other segments of society through a large number of lockdowns in 2020 and 2021. The largest postal and logistics companies as an integral part of the supply chain have been directly affected by the Covid 19 pandemic. Disruption in the supply chain significantly affects the movement of goods and the economic development of countries. This paper investigates the impact of the covid-19 pandemic on the logistics sector, with special emphasis on public postal operators (PPO) in some countries of the Western Balkans (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, and Serbia). The paper analyzes the movement of express shipments in domestic transport, as well as imports and exports for 2020. There is almost no research on the implications of the covid-19 pandemic on the postal and logistics sectors of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, and Serbia. The aim of this research is to understand the impact of the pandemic on this sector.

A UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) is an unmanned aerial vehicle or aircraft that can be monitored remotely or flown independently using a pre-programmed flight plan. Simply, a drone is a selfpropelled vehicle heavier than air. From their beginnings and first forms to modern drones as we know them today, people have discovered many areas for their application. As the power and carrying capacity of drones has grown, so does the possibility of using them for different purposes such as logistics and postal services. The main advantage of drones in urban areas is the independence from road infrastructure and fast delivery, but several challenges need to be addressed for this type of delivery to be competitive with other modes. Many projects have dealt with this topic, but none of them has widespread use to this day. In this paper, we will present the basic challenges that arise in the use of drones for shipment delivery. The paper will present activities that should be prioritized to make a competitive type of service. The paper will present also the advantages over other types of shipment delivery and the current limitation with a future possible research area.

The current market situation indicates an intensive increase in services offered by the logistics sector. To fulfill the growing demand, the logistics sector in the department of distribution of goods has several challenges, such as increasing fleet, increased mileage, difficulty in achieving an environmentally-friendly distribution chain. Each of these challenges requires organizational and managerial interventions in the process of functioning of the logistics sector. Given the needs of the market, environmental restrictions at the global level, the global issue of conventional fuels, research in this paper will focus on one of the elements for achieving an environmentally friendly and sustainable distribution chain. This paper targets to point out the challenges and advantages of replacing conventional vehicle vehicles with more environmentally-friendly vehicles. In the concept of Green Logistic, the basis for achieving an environmentally friendly logistics distribution chain are electric vehicles. The paper will identify the impact of logistics operations on the environment on the example of the vehicle fleet of a logistics operator in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which provides goods distribution services, using European models for assessing the environmental performance of vehicles. Research and application of scientific methods will determine the advantages, challenges, and possibilities of introducing electric vehicles in logistics operator’s fleet.

In the last few years, we have been active participants in globalization and the rapid growth of online commerce. This trend directly impacts logistics, postal, and courier companies. Challenges are visible in the growth and development of these companies, as well as quality of task execution and the ability to adapt to market conditions. With the impact of the SARS-COV-19 virus on the market, and due to locks during the pandemic, shoppers were forced to buy products online. This effect accelerated the trend of purchases via e-commerce, which increased the number of parcels in the technological phases of pick-up and delivery. These companies are the bearers of the first and last technological phase of shipment transport. Due to the increase in the number of shipments, postal and logistics companies are under great pressure. This is because of certain restrictions introduced during the pandemic, but also because of costs, especially fixed costs in the first and last phase of transport. This paper proposes an outsourcing model for the pick-up and delivery to convert fixed costs into variable ones.

New technologies primarily affect the lives of all people, their habits, needs, desires, but also significantly affect the demands placed on various business sectors. Discussions on the increasingly rapid development of technical-technological solutions that can be applied in the postal sector and logistics have a long history. New technologies in all areas bring a constant change in the relationship between companies and their customers, which significantly affect the quality of work and activities. In the years to come, it will be an increasing challenge for postal operators around the world, as well as for other companies, to achieve substantive communication and understanding of their customers through the application of innovative technologies. Understanding and learning about customer issues is key to offering them services that, with their precise targeting of stakeholders, quality, visibility, efficiency, and, perhaps most importantly, flexibility, will be able to meet needs that change so quickly over time. This will be possible with new technologies and innovative solutions. The paper presents a market research on the potential use of autonomous vehicles and drones in the postal sector in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The research is based on a survey questionnaire on the use of drones and autonomous vehicles in the postal sector in the segment of shipment delivery.

The SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic has emerged as one of the greatest problems of the 21st century worldwide. Efforts to fight this pandemic require a global co-operation and a multidisciplinary approach. An application of information and communication technologies (ICT) to a great degree contributes to fighting the pandemic as these technologies are one of the key services that assist patients, researchers, health institutions and other interested parties in different activities in an effort to fight the pandemic and its consequences. The present paper presents the features of certain mobile applications (apps) that are being used for different purposes such as: tracking patients, COVID-19-related warnings, keeping tracks of statistical data, organising life and business, etc. Aside from presenting the features of a certain number of applications, a review of technologies used for the development of these applications will also be presented. Furthermore, the paper addresses certain challenges that come along with the mobile technologies applications and offers suggestions for future research.

The active introduction and modern technologies application in the transport market greatly affect all transport branches and the ways of their business. Availability and mass usage of the internet and web services create a new ambiance of trade through online sales respectively e-commerce. The increase in internet sales has a direct effect on the business of courier companies. The increase in the number of shipments, especially in the B2C (Business-to-consumer) segment, is putting increasing pressure on costs for companies that do pickup and delivery. Companies are trying to adapt their business to the new challenges and conditions that prevail in the transport market through different cost management models. One way to manage costs is to outsourcing costs. This paper proposes a model cost calculation in outsourcing services for pickup and delivery shipments based on the number of stops.