Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Rich vehicle routing in theory and practice

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Logistics Research

Abstract

The contribution of this paper is a comparison of the state of the art of scientific research on and commercial software for modelling and solving vehicle routing problems. To this end, the paper presents a compact review of vehicle routing literature and an overview of the results of a recent study of commercial vehicle routing software systems with respect to the problem features these systems are able to handle and the solution methods the systems use for automatic generation of vehicle routes. In this way, existing application and research gaps are identified.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Ahuja R, Ergun Ö, Orlin J, Punnen A (2002) A survey of very large-scale neighborhood search techniques. Discret Appl Math 123:75–102

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  2. Andersson H, Hoff A, Christiansen M, Hasle G, Løkketangen A (2010) Industrial aspects and literature survey: combined inventory management and routing. Comput Oper Res 37:1515–1536

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  3. Archetti C, Savelsbergh M (2009) The trip scheduling problem. Transp Sci 43:417–431

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Archetti C, Speranza M (2008) The split delivery vehicle routing problem: a survey. In: Golden B, Raghavan S, Wasil E (eds) The vehicle routing problem: latest advances and new challenges. Springer, New York, pp 103–122

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  5. Baldacci R, Bartolini E, Mingozzi A, Roberti R (2010) An exact solution framework for a broad class of vehicle routing problems. Comput Manag Sci 7:229–268

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  6. Baldacci R, Mingozzi A, Roberti R (2012) Recent exact algorithms for solving the vehicle routing problem under capacity and time window constraints. Eur J Oper Res 218:1–6

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  7. Ball M, Barnhart C, Nemhauser G, Odoni A (2007) Air transportation: irregular operations and control. In: Barnhart C, Laporte G (eds) Transportation, volume 14 of handbooks in operations research and management science. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp 1–67

    Google Scholar 

  8. Bock S (2010) Real-time control of freight forwarder transportation networks by integrating multimodal transport chains. Eur J Oper Res 200:733–746

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Bodin L, Levy L (2000) Scheduling of local delivery carrier routes for the united states postal service. In: Dror M (ed) Arc routing: theory, solutions, and applications. Kluwer, Boston, pp 419–442

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  10. Bräysy O, Gendreau M (2005) Vehicle routing problem with time windows, part i: route construction and local search algorithms. Transp Sci 39:104–118

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Bräysy O, Gendreau M (2005) Vehicle routing problem with time windows, part ii: metaheuristics. Transp Sci 39:119–139

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Bredström D, Rönnqvist M (2008) Combined vehicle routing and scheduling with temporal precedence and synchronization constraints. Eur J Oper Res 191:19–29

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Burke E, Hyde M, Kendall G, Ochoa G, Özcan E, Woodward J (2010) A classification of hyper-heuristic approaches. In: Gendreau M, Potvin J-Y (eds) Handbook of metaheuristics, 2nd edn. Springer, New York, pp 449–468

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  14. Caprara A, Kroon L, Monaci M, Peeters M, Toth P (2007) Passenger railway optimization. In: Barnhart C, Laporte G (eds) Transportation, volume 14 of handbooks in operations research and management science. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp 129–187

    Google Scholar 

  15. Ceselli A, Righini G, Salani M (2009) A column generation algorithm for a rich vehicle-routing problem. Transp Sci 43:56–69

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Cheung R, Shi N, Powell W, Simão H (2008) An attribute-decision model for cross-border drayage problem. Transp Res Part E 44:217–234

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Christiansen M, Fagerholt K, Nygreen B, Ronen D (2007) Maritime transportation. In: Barnhart C, Laporte G (eds) Transportation, volume 14 of handbooks in operations research and management science. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp 189–284

    Google Scholar 

  18. Corberán A, Prins C (2010) Recent results on arc routing problems: an annotated bibliography. Networks 56:50–69

    MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  19. Cordeau J, Gendreau M, Laporte G, Potvin J, Semet F (2002) A guide to vehicle routing heuristics. J Oper Res Soc 53:512–522

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Cordeau J, Laporte G, Savelsbergh M, Vigo D (2007) Vehicle routing. In: Barnhart C, Laporte G (eds) Transportation, volume 14 of handbooks in operations research and management science. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp 367–428

    Google Scholar 

  21. Cordeau J, Toth P, Vigo D (1998) A survey of optimization models for train routing and scheduling. Transp Sci 32:380–404

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Cotta C, Sevaux M, Sörensen K (eds) (2008) Adaptive and multilevel metaheuristics, volume 136 of studies in computational intelligence. Springer, Berlin

    Google Scholar 

  23. Crainic T (2008) Parallel solution methods for vehicle routing problems. In: Golden B, Raghavan S, Wasil E (eds) The vehicle routing problem: latest advances and new challenges. Springer, New York, pp 171–198

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  24. Crainic T, Gendreau M, Potvin J (2009) Intelligent freight-transportation systems: assessment and the contribution of operations research. Transp Res Part C 17:541–557

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Dantzig G, Ramser J (1959) The truck dispatching problem. Manag Sci 6:80–91

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  26. Derigs U, Kurowsky U, Vogel U (2011) Solving a real-world vehicle routing problem with multiple use of tractors and trailers and eu-regulations for drivers arising in air cargo road feeder services. Eur J Oper Res 213:309–319

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Desaulniers G, Desrosiers J, Ioachim I, Solomon M, Soumis F, Villeneuve D (1998) A unified framework for deterministic time constrained vehicle routing and crew scheduling problems. In: Crainic T, Laporte G (eds) Fleet management and logistics. Kluwer, Boston, pp 57–93

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  28. Desaulniers, G, Desrosiers, J, Solomon, M (eds) (2005) Column generation. Springer, New York

    Google Scholar 

  29. Desaulniers G, Hickman M (2007) Public transit. In: Barnhart C, Laporte G (eds) Transportation, volume 14 of handbooks in operations research and management science. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp 69–127

    Google Scholar 

  30. Doerner K, Schmid V (2010) Survey: matheuristics for rich vehicle routing problems volume 6373 of lecture notes in computer science. Springer, Berlin, pp 206–221

  31. Drexl M (2010) Software zur Tourenplanung – Marktstudie 2010. Fraunhofer Verlag, Stuttgart

  32. Drexl M (2012) Synchronization in vehicle routing—a survey of VRPs with multiple synchronization constraints. Transp Sci. doi:10.1287/trsc.1110.0400 (in press)

  33. Drexl M, Prescott-Gagnon E (2010) Labelling algorithms for the elementary shortest path problem with resource constraints considering EU drivers’ rules. Logist Res 2:79–96

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. Eibl P (1996) Computerised vehicle routing and scheduling in road transport. Avebury, Aldershot

    Google Scholar 

  35. Flatberg T, Hasle G, Kloster O, Nilssen E, Riise A (2005) Dynamic and stochastic aspects in vehicle routing—a literature survey. Technical Report STF90A05413, SINTEF

  36. Fleischmann B, Gietz M, Gnutzmann S (2004) Time-varying travel times in vehicle routing. Transp Sci 38:160–173

    Article  Google Scholar 

  37. Francis P, Smilowitz K, Tzur M (2008) The period vehicle routing problem and its extensions. In: Golden B, Raghavan S, Wasil E (eds) The vehicle routing problem: latest advances and new challenges. Springer, New York, pp 73–102

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  38. Funke B, Grünert T, Irnich S (2005) Local search for vehicle routing and scheduling problems: review and conceptual integration. J Heuristics 11:267–306

    Article  Google Scholar 

  39. Gendreau M, Potvin J (2005) Metaheuristics in combinatorial optimization. Ann Oper Res 140:189–213

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  40. Gendreau M, Potvin J, Bräysy O, Hasle G, Løkketangen A (2008) Metaheuristics for the vehicle routing problem and its extensions: a categorized bibliography. In: Golden B, Raghavan S, Wasil E (eds) The vehicle routing problem: latest advances and new challenges. Springer, New York, pp 143–169

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  41. Gendreau, M, Potvin, J-Y (eds) (2010) Handbook of metaheuristics, 2nd edn. Springer, New York

    Google Scholar 

  42. Goel A (2007) Fleet telematics: real-time management and planning of commercial vehicle operations, volume 40 of operations research/computer science interfaces series. Springer, Berlin

    Google Scholar 

  43. Goel A (2009) Vehicle scheduling and routing with drivers’ working hours. Transp Sci 43:17–26

    Article  Google Scholar 

  44. Goel A (2010) Truck driver scheduling in the European Union. Transp Sci 44:429–441

    Article  Google Scholar 

  45. Goel A, Gruhn V (2008) A general vehicle routing problem. Eur J Oper Res 191:650–660

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  46. Golden B, Raghavan S, Wasil E (eds) (2008) The vehicle routing problem: latest advances and new challenges, volume 43 of operations research/computer science interfaces series. Springer, Berlin

    Google Scholar 

  47. Groër B, Golden B, Wasil E (2009) The consistent vehicle routing problem. Manuf Serv Oper Manag 11:630–643

    Google Scholar 

  48. Groër B, Golden B, Wasil E (2010) A library of local search heuristics for the vehicle routing problem. Math Program Comput 2:79–101

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  49. Haghani A, Jung S (2005) A dynamic vehicle routing problem with time-dependent travel times. Comput Oper Res 32:2959–2986

    Article  Google Scholar 

  50. Hartl R, Hasle G, Janssens G (2006) Special issue on rich vehicle routing problems. Central Eur J Oper Res 14:103–104

    Article  Google Scholar 

  51. Hasle G, Kloster O (2007) Industrial vehicle routing. In: Hasle G, Lie K, Quak E (eds) Geometric modelling, numerical simulation, and optimization: applied mathematics at SINTEF. Springer, Berlin, pp 397–435

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  52. Hennig F (2010) Optimization in maritime transportation: crude oil tanker routing and scheduling. PhD thesis, Department of Industrial Economics and Technology Management, Norwegian University of Science and Technology

  53. Hickman M, Mirchandani P, Voß S (eds) (2008) Computer-aided systems in public transport, volume 600 of lecture notes in economics and mathematical systems. Springer, Berlin

  54. Hoff A, Andersson H, Christiansen M, Hasle G, Løkketangen A (2010) Industrial aspects and literature survey: fleet composition and routing. Comput Oper Res 37:2041–2061

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  55. Hollis B, Forbes M, Douglas B (2006) Vehicle routing and crew scheduling for metropolitan mail distribution at australia post. Eur J Oper Res 173:133–150

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  56. Humphreys G (2007) Tachobook. Foster Tachographs, Preston

    Google Scholar 

  57. Irnich S (2007) Optimization models and methods for node-routing and arc-routing problems: contributions to enhancements of efficiency and generality. Habilitation Thesis Faculty of Business and Economics, RWTH Aachen University

  58. Irnich S (2008) Solution of real-world postman problems. Eur J Oper Res 190:52–67

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  59. Irnich S (2008) A unified modeling and solution framework for vehicle routing and local search-based metaheuristics. INFORMS J Comput 20:270–287

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  60. Klabjan D (2005) Large-scale models in the airline industry. In: Desaulniers G, Desrosiers J, Solomon M (eds) Column generation. Springer, New York, pp 163–195

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  61. Kok A, Meyer C, Kopfer H, Schutten J (2010) A dynamic programming heuristic for the vehicle routing problem with time windows and European Community social legislation. Transp Sci 44:442–454

    Article  Google Scholar 

  62. Lu Q, Dessouky M (2006) A new insertion-based construction heuristic for solving the pickup and delivery problem with time windows. Eur J Oper Res 175:672–687

    Article  Google Scholar 

  63. Macharis C, Bontekoning Y (2004) Opportunities for or in intermodal freight transport research: a review. Eur J Oper Res 153:400–416

    Article  Google Scholar 

  64. Maniezzo V, Stützle T, Voß S (eds) (2010) Matheuristics, volume 10 of annals of information systems. Springer, New York

    Google Scholar 

  65. Moin N, Salhi S (2007) Inventory routing problems: a logistical overview. J Oper Res Soc 58:1185–1194

    Article  Google Scholar 

  66. Nagy G, Salhi S (2007) Location-routing: issues, models and methods. Eur J Oper Res 177:649–672

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  67. Oppen J, Løkketangen A, Desrosiers J (2010) Solving a rich vehicle routing and inventory problem using column generation. Comput Oper Res 37:1308–1317

    Article  Google Scholar 

  68. Parragh S, Doerner K, Hartl R (2008) A survey on pickup and delivery models part I: transportation between customers and depot. J für Betriebswirtschaft 58:21–51

    Article  Google Scholar 

  69. Parragh S, Doerner K, Hartl R (2008) A survey on pickup and delivery models part II: transportation between pickup and delivery locations. J für Betriebswirtschaft 58:81–117

    Article  Google Scholar 

  70. Pisinger D, Røpke S (2007) A general heuristic for vehicle routing problems. Comput Oper Res 34:2403–2435

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  71. Powell W (2007) Approximate dynamic programming. Wiley, Hoboken

    Book  Google Scholar 

  72. Powell W, Bouzaïene-Ayari B, Simão H (2007) Dynamic models for freight transportation. In: Barnhart C, Laporte G (eds) Transportation, volume 14 of handbooks in operations research and management science. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp 285–365

    Google Scholar 

  73. Prescott-Gagnon E, Desaulniers G, Drexl M, Rousseau L-M (2010) European driver rules in vehicle routing with time windows. Transp Sci 44:455–473

    Article  Google Scholar 

  74. Rieck J, Zimmermann J (2010) A new mixed integer linear model for a rich vehicle routing problem with docking constraints. Ann Oper Res 181:337–358

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  75. Røpke S (2005) Heuristic and exact algorithms for vehicle routing problems. PhD thesis, Department of Computer Science, University of Copenhagen

  76. Savelsbergh M, Sol M (1995) The general pickup and delivery problem. Transp Sci 29:17–29

    Article  Google Scholar 

  77. Savelsbergh M, Sol M (1998) Drive: dynamic routing of independent vehicles. Oper Res 46:474–490

    Article  Google Scholar 

  78. Schmid V, Doerner K, Hartl R, Salazar-González J (2010) Hybridization of very large neighborhood search for ready-mixed concrete delivery problems. Comput Oper Res 37:559–574

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  79. Sörensen K, Sevaux M, Schittekat P (2008) “Multiple neighbourhood” search in commercial VRP packages: evolving towards self-adaptive methods. In: Cotta C, Sevaux M, Sörensen K (eds) Adaptive and multilevel metaheuristics, volume 136 of studies in computational intelligence. Springer, Berlin, pp 239–253

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  80. Spoorendonk S (2008) Cut and column generation. PhD thesis, Faculty of Science, University of Copenhagen

  81. Taniguchi E, Shimamoto H (2004) Intelligent transportation systems based dynamic vehicle routing and scheduling with variable travel times. Transp Res Part C 12:235–250

    Article  Google Scholar 

  82. Toth P, Vigo D (eds) (2002) The vehicle routing problem. SIAM Monographs on Discrete Mathematics and Applications, Philadelphia

  83. Wäscher G, Haußner H, Schumann H (2007) An improved typology of cutting and packing problems. Eur J Oper Res 183:1109–1130

    Article  Google Scholar 

  84. Wong R (2008) Vehicle routing for small package delivery and pickup services. In: Golden B, Raghavan S, Wasil E (eds) The vehicle routing problem: latest advances and new challenges. Springer, New York, pp 475–485

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  85. Xu H, Chen Z, Rajagopal S, Arunapuram S (2003) Solving a practical pickup and delivery problem. Transp Sci 37:347–364

    Article  Google Scholar 

  86. Zäpfel G, Bögl M (2008) Multi-period vehicle routing and crew scheduling with outsourcing options. Int J Prod Econ 113:980–996

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Chair of Logistics Management, Gutenberg School of Management and Economics, Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany

    Michael Drexl

  2. Fraunhofer Centre for Applied Research on Supply Chain Services SCS, Nuremberg, Germany

    Michael Drexl

Authors
  1. Michael Drexl
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Michael Drexl.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Drexl, M. Rich vehicle routing in theory and practice. Logist. Res. 5, 47–63 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12159-012-0080-2

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12159-012-0080-2

Keywords

Search

Navigation