Heuristic Algorithms: An Application to the Truck Loading Problem

Abstract

This chapter approaches the Truck Loading Problem, which is formulated as a rich problem with the classic one dimensional Bin Packing Problem (BPP) and five variants. The literature review reveals that related work deals with three variants at the most. Besides, few efforts have been done to combine the Bin Packing Problem with the Vehicle Routing Problem. For the solution of this new Rich BPP a heuristic-deterministic algorithm, named DiPro, is proposed. It works together with a metaheuristic algorithm to plan routes, schedules and loads. The objective of the integrated problem, called RoSLoP, consists of optimizing the delivery process of bottled products in a real application. The experiments show the performance of three version of the Transportation System. The best version achieves a total demand satisfaction, an average saving of three vehicles and a reduction of the computational time from 3 hrs to two minutes regarding their manual solution. For the large scale the authors have develop a competitive genetic algorithm for BPP. As future work, it is intended integrate the approximation algorithm to the transportation system.