The freight transport effectiveness assessment in the aspect of the use of environmentally friendly vehicles

The freight transport combines the issue of supply services organization for various types of entities, including large shopping centres, stores of various industries, restaurants, work and leisure places, small-scale outlets, or municipal waste shipments. Due to the location of customers, transport services encounter many difficulties related to infrastructural constraints and increased traffic. This adversely affects the safety and obstructions in traffic and air pollution and thus is a disturbing factor for the lives of inhabitants. There is also a growing problem of the smog in large cities (in Poland, for example, Warsaw or Cracow). Traffic safety, minimization of congestion, and minimization of environmental pollution by transport activities are of particular importance in the development of freight traffic organization plans. In connection with the above, in recent years, the use of Environmentally Friendly Vehicles (EFV) in various spheres of human activity has been dynamically developing, and this concerns the cargo transport. Currently, vehicle manufacturers are providing an increasing number of delivery vehicles and trucks. On the other hand, entrepreneurs planning to implement pro-environmental solutions face a decision problem related to the efficiency of a transport system based on the use of EFV as well as the economic validity of implementing this type of innovation. In connection with the above, in this article, the problem of the impact of transport on the environment and the use of EFV in the freight transport was analysed. The main issues related to the functioning of the transport system and its negative impact on the environment has been presented. Environmental friendly vehicles and their parameters have been characterized. The main decision problems in organizing the transport system, also in the context of the use of EFV, have been identified and analysed. Finally, an example of a model for assessing the efficiency of a transport system with an emphasis on its impact on the environment was presented. The article was concluded with the summary of considerations and the proposal for further work.