Challenges of Urban Deliveries in the Wholesale Trade: A Comprehensive Analysis of Policy-makers’ Sustainable Strategies

Abstract

Faced with the environmental challenges threatening the planet, a societal awareness seems to be emerging and gradually gaining momentum. The movement affects many human activities and questions the sustainable nature of industrial and logistical processes. This movement, which gives rise to an abundant literature, especially with a perspective of ecological economics, scattered works address the wholesaling trade, without always giving it the importance it deserves. Indeed, even as the sustainable city becomes a hot topic, it is often forgotten that the supply of the city remains largely in the hands of wholesalers, who have a key competence in last mile management. In reference to the French context, the paper addresses the topic of sustainability in the wholesaling trade by stressing in particular the regulatory constraints that weigh on urban logistics and which wholesaling trade must take into account.