One of the reasons indicated as the borders of CT development in BSR is big market competition from road heavy haulage. The BSR is home to a number of international road transport companies. Statistically, nearly two-thirds of Europe’s heavy-duty fleet is registered in the BSR. As a result, it is crucial to understand the need to constantly develop necessary technologies in all CT operations to keep (continuously) improved economic effectiveness which can lead to bigger competition potential towards pure road haulage market. A closer look at the costs of the whole CT chain indicates that the largest costs per unit are connected with last mile operations, playing a crucial role for the overall CT chain efficiency. For the purpose of the e-book, technologies which are already in use or in the introduction/test process for CT last mile operations have been divided into two main groups—-ncreasing capacity and alternative propulsions. 

In general CT first/last mile operations (in the EU, inclusive of the BSR) are performed by road transport. It is of course connected with the definition of CT, but it is a result of high flexibility of road transport, which can be performed with the minimal infrastructure. Despite this, contemporary green deal policy leads the market towards providing low or zero emission solutions, thus for some European cities like Karlshruhe or Dresden solutions involving trams for last mile deliveries are under development (Karlsruhe) or in use (Dresden).

• Last mile solutions—status quo (7.1)
• Increasing cargo capacity solutions (7.2)
• Alternative fuels and propulsion solutions (7.3)