Author:

Keywords:

Scheduling, MV-PDPTW, Routing

Abstract:

Routing ships between ports and terminals has a considerable impact on effi- ciency in logistics and transportation. Academic research has both concentrated on generating feasible routes between major seaports and on determining a profitable fleet size and composition. The present paper aims at proposing a generalization of the problem in which an operator needs to route a fleet of barges between sea- ports and inland terminals on a waterway consisting of hindrances such as locks and bridges. Delivering competitive services compared to conventional transport (i.e. truck haulage) is the main incentive for the operator’s business activity. A set of heuristics has been developed for improving the current manual decisions for this particular vehicle routing problem.