In recent times, developments in communication industry have provided efficient methods to deliver information and reroute drivers with ease. However, selection of the most efficient route is central to the productivity of the operation. This project attempts to explore routing methods for collector trucks with the view of providing scope for development of better tools to assist dispatchers and truck drivers. Collector truck drivers and shippers have different types of working arrangements that require special treatment. Some shippers may organize pre-arranged times when outgoing parcels would be ready for collection. Others may be flexible about the time of pickup. In addition, there are shippers who make telephone requests on as-needed basis. Typically, analysts would view the routing issue as a traveling salesman problem where the objective is to minimize the total travel task performed by the truck drivers. This paper explains operational procedures observed in a case study in Japan and modelling lessons derived from the analysis of field data. (a) For the covering entry of this conference, please see ITRD abstract no. E211903.
Samenvatting