A Savings Algorithm Approach to the Truck Routing and Loading Problem

Abstract

The Truck Routing and Loading problem is a combination of the Vehicle Routing Problem (VRP) and the Bin Packing problem. In this paper, we propose an integrated solution to the routing and loading problem, while maintaining a balance between computation time and accuracy in order to make this a practically viable solution. The aim is to deliver all the goods to their destination, covering as less distance as possible, over as few routes as possible. For the loading problem is solved using a Bin Packing algorithm, with the aim to best-fit the truck using an exhaustive iterative search to find an optimal combination of items that occupy the maximum weight and volume that the truck can possibly carry. The routing problem a solution to the Capacitated Vehicle Routing Problem (CVRP) has been proposed. It is an improved variant of the heuristics-based Clarke-Wright Savings algorithm. Computational experiments have been carried out to prove the effectiveness of the solution, including analyzing its performance for some standard CVRP benchmarks.