Author(s)

R. Raicu, S. Raicu & E. Rosca

Abstract

The paper presents an optimisation method for vehicle routing with time windows and scheduling of freight distribution/collection in urban areas. The differences with the classical approaches are outlined. The optimal routing solution that minimises the total travel distance is determined by investigating trips nature, obtaining a better initial solution and turning the problem into a transportation one. Based on the generated set of routes, the scheduling routine computes the minimum number of vehicles that could perform the container distribution/collection and the schedule for each vehicle. An alternative scenario with a reduced number of vehicles is compared with the initial one, taking into consideration vehicles utilisation, hiring costs, and penalty costs for the cancelled trips. The results presented in this paper are from a study carried out for the metropolitan area of Bucharest, where the method proposed for freight transport optimisation was successfully implemented. Keywords: urban freight transport, optimisation, vehicle routing with time window, scheduling. 1 Introduction Transport companies, customers, local and central authorities, for different reasons, are interested in the development of integrated logistics to satisfy the requirements of ongoing transport development. The optimisation of freight distribution/collection in urban areas implies solving transport routing and scheduling problems. In general, the objectives of these two complex combinatorial problems consist of minimising the fleet size, the number of

Keywords

urban freight transport, optimisation, vehicle routing with time window, scheduling.