Abstract
This article paper presents a hybrid metaheuristic algorithm to solve the time-dependent vehicle routing problem with hard time windows. Time-dependent travel times are influenced by different congestion levels experienced throughout the day. Vehicle scheduling without consideration of congestion might lead to underestimation of travel times and consequently missed deliveries. The algorithm presented in this paper makes use of Large Neighbourhood Search approaches and Variable Neighbourhood Search techniques to guide the search. A first stage is specifically designed to reduce the number of vehicles required in a search space by the reduction of penalties generated by time-window violations with Large Neighbourhood Search procedures. A second stage minimises the travel distance and travel time in an ‘always feasible’ search space. Comparison of results with available test instances shows that the proposed algorithm is capable of obtaining a reduction in the number of vehicles (4.15%), travel distance (10.88%) and travel time (12.00%) compared to previous implementations in reasonable time
Highlights
In logistics operations, the routing and scheduling of collections and deliveries is vital to control costs and meet customer service levels (Chopra & Meindl, 2007)
The time-dependent vehicle routing problem with hard time windows (TDVRPTW) is the variant where travel time between locations depends on the time of the day with a strict time window for the delivery being initially established by the customer (Figliozzi, 2012; Malandraki & Daskin, 1992)
Managerial solutions are available to account for congestion such as planning vehicle schedules with average travel times, it might lead to poor solutions with missed deliveries and extra costs when compared to solutions based on the use of time-dependent VRP variants (Kok et al, 2012)
Summary
The routing and scheduling of collections and deliveries is vital to control costs and meet customer service levels (Chopra & Meindl, 2007). The time-dependent vehicle routing problem with hard time windows (TDVRPTW) is the variant where travel time between locations depends on the time of the day with a strict (non-negotiable) time window for the delivery being initially established by the customer (Figliozzi, 2012; Malandraki & Daskin, 1992). Managerial solutions are available to account for congestion such as planning vehicle schedules with average travel times, it might lead to poor solutions with missed deliveries and extra costs (e.g. more vehicles, duty time and distance) when compared to solutions based on the use of time-dependent VRP variants (Kok et al, 2012). In a recent survey conducted with 19 companies in the UK that showed the identification of the most important improvements required by the freight industry for vehicle routing software, companies ranked at one of the two most important capabilities the optimisation of routes minimising the impact of congestion (Rincon-Garcia et al, 2015)
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