Urban freight logistics involve the movement and operations generated by freight activity in urban areas. As such, freight logistics impact multiple stakeholders. However, these stakeholders are mostly not taken into consideration when planners and decision makers look into potential solutions to the issues generated by freight operations. In this paper, results are shown from a survey conducted and analyzed unveiling citizens’ perceptions with respect to the urban freight system in a mid-size urban area. Four hypotheses are proposed and tested using a Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) approach. Results show that, unlike what is generally believed, citizens are aware of the freight system and its impact on their daily activities. Moreover, citizens who perceive the infrastructure to be in poor condition also have a greater awareness of the negative externalities generated by freight operations. In addition, having a higher perception of freight’s negative externalities decreases citizens’ perception of the overall performance of freight logistics in the city. Furthermore, the results unveiled heterogeneity in citizens’ perceptions based on their socio-economic characteristics and based on their location. The results shed light on the perceptions citizens have towards urban freight logistics, and confirms the importance that decision makers should place on engaging the public early in the planning process. By raising awareness among planners in a proactive manner, these findings could be used to enhance the level of community engagement in freight planning, and by extension the level of citizen support for programs and initiatives aimed at addressing urban freight issues.

城市货运物流涉及城市地区货运活动产生的运动和操作。因此，货运物流影响多个利益相关者。然而，当规划者和决策者研究货运业务产生的问题的潜在解决方案时，这些利益相关者大多没有被考虑在内。在本文中，通过一项调查和分析得出的结果揭示了公民对中等城市地区城市货运系统的看法。使用结构方程建模 (SEM) 方法提出并测试了四个假设。结果表明，与普遍认为的不同，公民了解货运系统及其对日常活动的影响。而且，认为基础设施状况不佳的公民也更加了解货运业务产生的负面外部效应。此外，对货运负外部性的更高认知会降低市民对城市货运物流整体绩效的认知。此外，结果揭示了基于社会经济特征和位置的公民认知的异质性。结果揭示了市民对城市货运物流的看法，并证实了决策者在规划过程早期应重视公众参与。通过积极主动地提高规划者的意识，这些发现可用于提高社区参与货运规划的水平，