The integration of multiple constraints of the Vehicle Routing Problem (VRP) variants is computationally expensive. Although vehicle routing problems have been well researched, variants are typically treated in isolation, whereas industry requires integrated solutions. The concept of time window compatibility is introduced to improve the initial solution algorithm when combining variants such as a heterogeneous fleet, double scheduling, and multiple time windows. The paper reports on the algorithm's results when benchmark test data is used. The results relate to both the computational burden of the algorithm, as well as the quality of the initial solution. For the covering abstract see ITRD E128680.
Abstract