Abstract

This paper addresses the two-dimensional loading heterogeneous fixed fleet vehicle routing problem, which is a complex and unstudied variant of the classical vehicle routing problem and has a wide range of applications in transportation and logistics fields. In this problem, each customer demands a set of rectangular two-dimensional items, and the objective is to find the minimum cost delivery routes for a limited set of vehicles with different capacities, fixed and variable operating costs, and rectangular two-dimensional loading surfaces. We formulate a mixed integer linear programming model to obtain optimal solutions for small-scale problems. To obtain solutions for large-scale problems, we develop an algorithm based on simulated annealing and local search, which uses a collection of packing heuristics to address the loading constraints, and we also propose three new heuristics. We conduct experiments on benchmark instances derived from the two-dimensional loading heterogeneous fleet vehicle routing problem. The results indicate that the proposed model correctly describes the problem and can solve small-scale problems, that the new packing heuristics are effective in improving the collection of packing heuristics, and that the proposed simulated annealing algorithm can find good solutions to large-scale problems within an acceptable computational time. Hence, it can be used by logistic companies using a heterogeneous fixed fleet in the integrated planning of vehicle loading and routing.

Highlights

  • In many organizations, the management of distribution activities is a major decision-making problem

  • Results and Discussion. e 2L-heterogeneous fixed fleet vehicle routing problem (HFFVRP) mathematical formulation of Section 3 and the simulated annealing (SA) algorithm of Section 4 were implemented in the Visual Basic .NET programming language. e mathematical model was solved by CPLEX 12.6 with the default configuration parameters

  • All the computational tests were executed in a machine with the following specifications: a 1.4 GHz Intel Core i5 processor with 8 GB RAM memory running a Windows 10 operating system. e pure HFFVRP was solved for problems of class 1

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Summary

Introduction

The management of distribution activities is a major decision-making problem. A variety of real-life applications in the distribution management context involve the transportation of rectangular-shaped items, that is, items that cannot be stacked due to their weight or fragility, such as household appliances or delicate pieces of furniture In all these cases, it is necessary to consider additional constraints to reflect the two-dimensional loading feature of the problem, because the way these items are packed into vehicles might have a significant influence over distribution costs.

Literature Review
Hybrid SA Algorithm
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Managerial Insights
Conclusions
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