A Transportation Problem-Based Stochastic Integer Programming Model to Dispatch Surface Mining Trucks Under Uncertainty

Abstract

Over the last 50 years, several truck allocation and dispatching decision-making models have been developed in the field of surface mining operation optimization. Despite the stochastic approaches toward truck allocation problem, the researchers have not considered the effects of random parameters on truck dispatching problem. However, most of the factors affecting the truck dispatching decisions are random in behavior such as truck travel time to the next destination. This paper develops a truck dispatching decision-making model based on the transportation problem approach. The developed model is a stochastic integer programming model that makes decisions on the trucks dispatching problem under the condition of trucks’ travel time uncertainty. Besides, a simulation model of an open-pit mining operation has been developed to evaluate the developed stochastic truck dispatching model. Results of the implementation of the developed model prove impacts of the randomness in the operational parameters on the truck dispatching decisions.