Introduction
The transportation and logistics sector plays a vital role in global trade and economic development. These areas are needed to improve the quality and outcomes of global trade, and the lack of these resources leads to failure. The modern transportation and logistics sectors have undergone various technological transformations. As a result, many new challenges in these sectors occur, and careful analysis and innovative solutions are needed. The main aim of this literature review is to provide an efficient analysis of the source that researches and analyzes the challenges faced in the transportation and logistics industry.
The Historical Background of Challenges
Firstly, it is essential to understand the historical background of the challenges in modern transportation and logistics. It was found that sustainability concerns were overlooked, which has led to significant issues presently, especially in maritime transport (Lee et al., 2019). Lee et al. (2019) focused on the topics of ports, shipping, and maritime logistics. It was stated that since 1997, the shift towards sustainability had been launched, so unique policy formulation was needed. Since then, many challenges in the sphere of effective management have occurred, including efficient management strategies and policies. Lastly, social challenges are also seen in this sphere, which also significantly influence maritime logistics and transportation.
The two eras of transportation should be compared and analyzed, including the main challenges that occur from moving from one to another. The main challenges were the growing customer demands and global competition. As a result, a global transformation was needed. Industry 4.0 addressed difficulties in manufacturing, but the logistics sphere was lacking. In addition, the role of external stimuli in creating challenges was researched, as well as technological progress and human interactions (Winkelhaus & Grosse, 2020). Lastly, there are predictions about future challenges and ways of addressing them and fulfilling the logistic tasks.
Challenges Created by Pandemic
The impact of COVID-19 on the transportation and logistics sphere and the challenges it caused was crucial. One of the most significant challenges was uncertainty, social isolation, and fiscal interventions (Stošić & Trajković, 2020). As a result, the supply chains and market efficiency decreased. Logisticians have more responsibilities and should fit into the rapid and changing modern world requirements, including the impact of a pandemic. Moreover, there were major doubts about the future changes in transportation. As a result, many new challenging situations occurred, and logisticians should have effectively coped with them.
Secondly, the risks related to the logistics realm during the pandemic were created. The developing landscape of risk analysis and its impact on transportation, especially during the pandemic, is significant. This article by Choi (2021) provides valuable insights into challenges and appropriate solutions to them, especially focusing on issues created by COVID-19. In addition, the Transportation Research Part E role is examined to improve the possibilities for further research. The overall logistic landscape is researched to analyze challenges better and find ways of addressing them. Lastly, the research agenda is proposed to guide the most suitable risk analysis.
The role of the transportation and logistics sectors during the pandemic should be researched. It was stated that economic challenges are the major in the logistics sphere, especially the increase in cost (Klein et al., 2022). The main focus was on transportation during the pandemic. Innovation is the most suitable way to address challenges and reduce costs. Klein et al. (2022) investigate and address the challenges the transportation sphere faces. The specific area of investigation might be seen in the article by Klein (2022): Poland, Sweden, and Germany. In addition, the article focuses on innovation adoption and its role during a pandemic, as well as the challenges it created.
The logistics development trends after the COVID-19 pandemic also led to various challenges. The pandemic caused significant challenges to the transportation and logistics sphere, so great changes were made to fit modern requirements. There were five effects on logistics researched: capacity shortages, reduced demands, increased costs, network disruption, and altered services (Liu et al., 2022). These five effects were the significant challenges after the pandemic. In addition, the authors researched the rapid industry growth after COVID-19 and its impact and potential outcomes, and there was a specific area – China. That is why the article by Liu et al. (2022) provides accurate examples of the challenges in the logistics sphere of China, but there is a lack of explanation on how these challenges work in other areas.
Impact of Modern Technologies on Transportation
The role of drone-based package delivery logistics systems and the major challenges there should be included. The first issue discussed is economic challenges due to the increased customer expectations and e-commerce volume (Benarbia & Kyamakya, 2021). This issue is addressed by finding innovative solutions. In addition, one more challenge is the design and modeling of the drone-based delivery system, as it requires different approaches. The article by Benarbia & Kyamakay (2021) describes the main challenges faced in the industry and provides possible solutions to address the issues. As a result, an understanding of potential challenges in the sphere of drone-based delivery systems can be established.
Automation in transportation plays a significant role, but also different challenges. Significant attention is mainly paid to the complexities of automation, including e-commerce volumes. The article by Dekhne et al. (2019) shows the drawbacks of automation and states that despite its usefulness, many uncertainties still exist that should be addressed. In addition, there is a need to reveal the dynamics of automation and its role in transportation and logistics and show challenges and ways of addressing them. Lastly, automation is a significant tool in the transportation sphere, which helps analyze the main challenges.
There are various transportation challenges related to the Internet of Things. Most of them occur during the adoption of IoT in the logistics and transportation spheres. The article provides data on firms’ structural characteristics to analyze the main factors that drive IoT adoption and related challenges (Rey et al., 2021). It has been found that the Internet of Things can improve firm size, entrepreneurs’ perceptions, and absorptive capacity. However, it might not be easy to analyze and implement the benefits of IoT in different areas. Lastly, the article by Rey et al. (2021) includes the limitations and implications of the findings.
The role of e-commerce and its impact on transportation and logistics also should be included. The article examines Chinas e-commerce giant and distribution strategies (Zheng et al., 2020). Precious is an analysis of challenges, novel attributes, and opportunities. Moreover, different techniques are used to validate the results that were found. As a result, valuable insights into e-commerce logistics can be gained, as well as an understanding of the main challenges and opportunities for e-commerce in logistics and transportation.
Evolution in the Transportation Sphere
The evolving patterns in the transportation and logistics spheres have a profound impact on the whole sphere. Moreover, this source analyses the role of digital transformation in transportation as well as in Supply Chain Management (Demir et al., 2020). It is stated that presently, there are two types of transportation: Logistics 4.0 and intelligent logistics. The main challenge faced by 4.0 logistics is that smart ones have replaced them. Smart logistics include performance optimization, meeting customer demands, and efficient cost management. The book Logistics 4.0 by Demir et al. (2020) analyzes the main challenges in customer orders, business strategies, and supply chain integration.
Smart Logistics
The operations management aspects of smart logistics also greatly contribute to the creation of challenges. It has been found that the logistics industry is experiencing new challenges because of the presence of online and offline channels, so smart logistics are occurring (Feng & Ye 2021). Many difficulties arise while using modern technologies like IoT, AI, and information communication technology. In addition, the landscape of logistics has changed, which requires the ability to adapt to them. The article by Feng & Ye (2021) mainly focuses on smart logistics and the main challenges. Moreover, the article includes information from previous research, which can help accurately examine various facts related to the issue.
Horizontal Collaboration
The potential benefits and horizontal collaboration in the logistics industry and the challenges that can occur there can be researched. The research shows that logistics plays a vital role in the economy and improves life quality (Ferrell et al., 2020). However, the challenges decrease its development, so there is a need to implement various forms of collaboration. The major challenge is that inefficiencies persist, which affects worker well-being and the environment. Horizontal collaboration can become a solution to these issues. Ferrel et al. (2020) show ways of enhancing the logistics system, and a discussion on issues that can occur during the implementation of horizontal cooperation is also included.
Eco-Challenges in the Transportation Sphere
The freight transportation companies in Nigeria that have difficulties can demonstrate examples of the most seen challenges. These difficulties occur while attempting to implement eco-innovation practices to achieve sustainability. The main challenges described in this article are environmental ones. It has been found that many challenges occur while implementing eco-innovative transportation, especially when organizing supply chains (Orji et al., 2019). In addition, the challenges are researched in Nigeria so that exact examples might be present. However, the specific area of research limits the academic background of the article. As a result, a more complex analysis of the environmental impact on transportation and the challenges related to environmental impact is needed.
Human Resource Management in Transportation
The role of human resource management in the logistic sphere, especially the challenges that occur there, plays a vital role in transportation. The article has a specific area of examination – Vietnam, so it provides accurate examples of challenges. It was found that the logistics sector in Vietnam seeks ways to expand, and the main issue is the challenges in human resource development (Toan, 2023). Toan (2023) analyses the state of HR in Vietnam and demonstrates possible growth opportunities that align with challenges related to human resources management requirements. This study provides valuable insights into the changing landscape of human resource management in Vietnams logistics.
Conclusion
To conclude, the transportation and logistics spheres face various challenges and changes. There are different factors that influence this process, especially the technological process and global pandemic. It is essential to understand and analyze the main challenges in the logistics and transportation spheres. These challenges include economic, social, environmental, and global. The literature review shows that various research was done on the issue, but there are still various gaps and limitations, so further research is needed. For instance, the impact of inflation and global economic changes was not included. The challenges related to changes of interest in the market were not included. That is why these gaps should be analyzed in further research. Lastly, there is a need to understand the most suitable way to address the challenges of using modern techniques and smart logistics and improving transportation quality.
References
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