Freight vehicle dispatching problem with capital constraints by genetic algorithm

Abstract

Enterprise operation management mainly includes production decisions and capital decisions. This paper proposes a vehicle dispatching decision problem considering capital constraints. First, a freight vehicle dispatching model with capital and time windows constraints is devised with an objective of maximizing profit. Then, a two-stage algorithm is developed. In the first stage, a genetic algorithm is employed to get feasible vehicle routes. In the second stage, a regulation is used to improve the present routes by discarding the customers whose profit ratio of cost is minimized. Finally, a case study illustrates that the profit ratio increases by 54% through the proposed method and the capital investment decreases by 30% when considering the capital constraints.