Case Studies on Transport Policy xxx (xxxx) xxx Please cite this article as: An Minh Ngoc, Case Studies on Transport Policy, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cstp.2022.07.004 Available online 14 July 2022 2213-624X/© 2022 World Conference on Transport Research Society. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Ensuring traffc safety of cargo motorcycle drivers in last-mile delivery services in major Vietnamese cities An Minh Ngoc a, b, * , Hiroaki Nishiuchi a , Nguyen Thi Nhu b , Le Thu Huyen b a School of Systems Engineering, Kochi University of Technology, 185 Tosayamadacho-Miyanokuchi, Kami City, Kochi 782-8502, Japan b Faculty of Transport Economics, University of Transport and Communications, 3 Cau Giay, Lang Thuong, Dong Da, Hanoi 100000, Viet Nam A R T I C L E INFO Keywords: Cargo motorcycle Traffc crash Last mile delivery Safety ABSTRACT The prevalence of cargo motorcycles (cargo MCs) is rapidly changing urban freight transportation in Vietnamese cities. As the dominant mode of transportation in last-mile delivery (LMD) services in Vietnam, cargo MCs are found throughout the country. However, little is known about the risk of crashes involving cargo MC drivers, the factors affecting road crashes, and the perceived risk of crashes among cargo MC drivers. This information is vital given the rising safety concerns and the economic losses due to traffc crashes in the country. This study characterized traffc crashes involving cargo MCs as being either minor or major. Specifcally, our survey of 726 cargo MC drivers in Hanoi showed that 42.01% of respondents had experienced a crash within the last year, and 13.37% of respondents had been involved in at least one major traffc crash. Competition for work and unsafe driving behavior were the main reasons underlying these risks. Crash severity varied depending on the number of years that the drivers had worked in LMD, job type, income perception, delivery pressure, smoking and drinking habits, and mobile phone usage. Major crashes were also associated with the distance travelled daily and the number of trips to the distribution hub. Conversely, working overtime, lack of rest stops, daily order status, and traffc violations were associated with minor crashes. These fndings suggest that cargo MC drivers face numerous risks and that efforts to address these challenges are urgently required in order to promote the adoption of sustainable and healthy shipment practices. 1. Introduction In major Vietnamese cities, cargo motorcycles (cargo MCs) are a relatively new mode of cargo transportation that is rapidly changing urban logistics. Widely considered to be a convenient, fast, and effcient mode of cargo transportation for last mile delivery (LMD), cargo MCs are popular among urban cargo carriers. A recent traffc survey conducted by the University of Transport and Communications (UTC) in three Vietnamese cities found that cargo MCs accounted for as much as 11 % of traffc fow, while the maximum share of trucks was only 2.75 % (UTC, 2020). Their results also showed that cargo MCs have overcome the disadvantages of vehicle typology (i.e., weight and volume limita- tions) to become a highly favored mode of cargo transportation in the urban logistics industry. Despite the ubiquitous nature of cargo MCs on Vietnamese streets, information about the trends in cargo MC use in Vietnam is limited. Since cargo MCs do not need to be registered to carry goods, city governments do not know how many cargo MCs are active in the urban cargo transportation sector. As a result, developing a traffc safety plan for urban freight transportation activities is diffcult. Studies on trends in cargo MC use and road traffc crashes are also limited, and most previous research has focused on fatalities and injuries involving trucks (Clifton et al., 2009; Giuliano et al., 2013; McDonald et al., 2019; Pokorny et al., 2017). In Vietnam, where this study was conducted, research on the road traffc safety of motorcycles has increased in recent years (Bui et al., 2020; Ngoc and Thanh, 2019, 2020; Ngoc et al., 2021; Nguyen et al., 2021; Nguyen-Phuoc et al., 2020a,b; Truong et al., 2018, 2020). However, most of this research has focused on passenger MCs and not cargo MCs. To the best of our knowledge, no empirical studies have focused specifcally on road traffc crashes involving cargo MCs. This study, therefore, provides a valuable starting point, given that many of the vehicles used to transport cargo in cities are cargo MCs. In this study, we characterized road traffc crashes involving cargo * Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: an.ngoc@kochi-tech.ac.jp, anminhngoc@utc.edu.vn (A.M. Ngoc), nishiuchi.hiroaki@kochi-tech.ac.jp (H. Nishiuchi), nhunguyen@utc.edu.vn (N.T. Nhu), lthuyen@utc.edu.vn (L.T. Huyen). Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Case Studies on Transport Policy journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/cstp https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cstp.2022.07.004 Received 21 March 2022; Received in revised form 5 July 2022; Accepted 11 July 2022