Enacting the Last Mile: Experiences of Smart Contracts in Courier Deliveries

Document Title

Enacting the Last Mile: Experiences of Smart Contracts in Courier Deliveries

Document Information

• Subject Area: Research on last-mile delivery logistics focusing on smart contracts and distributed ledger technology
• Keywords: Smart contracts, distributed ledger technology, location data, last-mile logistics, logistics infrastructure, courier, cycling couriers

Research Background and Issues

• Identified Problems or Challenges

  • Last-mile delivery services lack efficiency, leading to low vehicle utilization rates, which negatively impact environmental and economic sustainability.
  • Existing systems offer some flexibility but are limited by manual operations and integration quality, creating coordination challenges between couriers and recipients.
  • The potential benefits of applying smart contracts to last-mile delivery (e.g., improved efficiency, enhanced collaboration, and traceability) have not been fully explored in small-scale local businesses.

• Significance

  • The efficiency issues in last-mile delivery are critical to achieving environmental goals and optimizing traffic, while also significantly impacting the daily practices and career development of delivery workers, particularly cycling couriers.

• Research Motivation and Related Work

  • Existing literature focuses on innovations in transportation technology and the application of distributed ledger technology (DLT) in logistics but rarely explores their specific impact on the daily practices of couriers and recipients.
  • The authors aim to understand the potential impacts of smart contract technology through real-world testing, particularly focusing on reconciling the efficiency and traceability advantages of technology with the potential erosion of human values in work practices.

Solution

• Method or Solution

  • Proposed a smart contract-based delivery system called GeoPact, simulating complex last-mile delivery scenarios through technical prototypes such as smart lockers and smartphone applications.
  • Designed four smart contract scenarios (sender to recipient, hub to recipient, sender to hub, and hub to hub) for field design experiments.

• Innovations

  • Leveraged the professional experience of actual couriers to explore the application effects of smart contracts through the User Enactment method.
  • Proposed potential design adjustments for smart contracts in delivery practices, such as flexible contract terms and enhanced responsibility tracking.

• Implementation Steps and Key Technologies

  1. Designed smart contract device experiences within real work processes for couriers and recipients.
  2. Used Solidity-based smart contract programs, instantiated with blockchain, to automate the locking and recording of transfer states.
  3. Supported data collection and research through interactive smartphone applications, instrument terminals (smart boxes), and a centralized service dashboard.
  4. Recorded participant experiences and feedback through user interviews and organizational observations.

Research Outcomes

• Specific Findings

  • Demonstrated that smart contracts can enhance logistics coordination, particularly in tracking items and defining responsibilities.
  • Participants were able to envision the impact of new technology on work practices (e.g., safety, efficiency, and flexibility) through their experiences, including potential design optimization suggestions.

• Advantages Comparison

  • Compared to traditional logistics models, smart contracts offer greater transparency and predictable responsiveness.
  • Extended the high-precision traceability potential of interactions between couriers and recipients, improving transfer efficiency.

• Experimental or Evaluation Results

  • Couriers' direct feedback on the technology included:
    1. Improved clarity of responsibilities, ensuring transfer records are tamper-proof.
    2. Reduced delays and enhanced precise delivery possibilities through smart databases and tablet operations.
    3. A preference for more flexible contract terms to preserve personal creativity and freedom.
  • Recipients validated the feasibility of automated transfer points (e.g., hubs) but expressed concerns about reduced work oversight.
  • Higher levels of visual tracking increased customer satisfaction, but couriers raised concerns about privacy and dynamic route interpretation issues.

• Limitations and Future Directions

  • The current system heavily relies on the functionality of technical devices and signal stability; future efforts may need to focus on robust performance in low-tech environments.
  • Users expressed a preference to avoid full automation, necessitating a balance between reducing real-time monitoring pressure and maintaining technological efficiency.
  • The core challenge of automating smart contract content lies in developing more complex mechanisms to adapt to diverse use scenarios.

Conclusion

• This study reveals the potential applications of smart contract technology in last-mile logistics and its profound impact on actual users (e.g., couriers and recipients).
• One of the most critical challenges lies in how to use technology to support existing human-centric values (e.g., flexibility, social interaction, and mutual trust) while improving efficiency and punctuality.