| Summary: | Road-based transportation being the most used transport mode globally has associated negative externalities such as traffic accidents, higher product costs, greenhouse gas emissions, air and noise pollution necessitating improvement. The study aims to provide a comprehensive overview of state-of-the-art knowledge about improving road freight transportation sustainability (RFTS) and discuss ways key stakeholders can do for its improvement. Therefore, the study adds to the existing reviews by providing more insights and a nuanced appreciation of improving RFTS. This is of relevance to policymakers, practitioners, and other key actors in the road-based freight transportation sector. The study utilized a meta-aggregation approach involving 75 peer-reviewed articles. Three themes under which RFTS can be addressed, namely (1) policy and regulation-based measures, (2) logistics and transportation efficiency-based measures, and (3) innovative technology-based measures were identified. Furthermore, the study found that the successful attainment of RFTS depends on the cooperative nature of both direct and indirect actors, strengthening of existing laws, capital investment, and stakeholder demands and pressure. However, less focus on stakeholder collaboration was observed to achieve the needed benefits for all three sustainability aspects. The study has limitations as only peer-reviewed articles were utilized. Other literature types including books would have provided a wider view of the topic. Further research area could examine how concepts like collaboration, cooperation, and coopetition affect the three sustainability perspectives.
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