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The Vehicle Routing Problem with Demand Range

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Abstract

We propose and formulate the vehicle routing problem with demand range (VRPDR), a new variation on the traditional vehicle routing problem. In the VRPDR, the delivery quantity for each customer i is allowed to vary from its original size d i by an amount α d i where 0 ≤ α < 1. In adding this limited flexibility to the problem, there is potential to generate significant savings in the total distance traveled. We address issues such as bounding the impact of a given α on total distance and provide empirical results to illustrate “typical” behavior.

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Correspondence to Ann Melissa Campbell.

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Campbell, A.M. The Vehicle Routing Problem with Demand Range. Ann Oper Res 144, 99–110 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10479-006-0057-0

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