IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/pal/jorsoc/v59y2008i9d10.1057_palgrave.jors.2602465.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Vehicle routing with soft time windows and Erlang travel times

Author

Listed:
  • R A Russell

    (The University of Tulsa)

  • T L Urban

    (The University of Tulsa)

Abstract

This paper investigates vehicle-routing problems in which the travel times are random variables, and deliveries are made subject to soft time-window constraints. In particular, we model the travel time using a shifted gamma distribution. Penalties are incurred for deviations from the customers' time windows—early or late—and are developed using a fixed cost, a linear cost penalty, and/or a quadratic loss penalty. Alternatively, specifying a given probability of meeting the time-window constraints is considered. A tabu-search metaheuristic is developed, and computational results on test problems from the literature are reported.

Suggested Citation

  • R A Russell & T L Urban, 2008. "Vehicle routing with soft time windows and Erlang travel times," Journal of the Operational Research Society, Palgrave Macmillan;The OR Society, vol. 59(9), pages 1220-1228, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:jorsoc:v:59:y:2008:i:9:d:10.1057_palgrave.jors.2602465
    DOI: 10.1057/palgrave.jors.2602465
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1057/palgrave.jors.2602465
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1057/palgrave.jors.2602465?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gendreau, Michel & Laporte, Gilbert & Seguin, Rene, 1996. "Stochastic vehicle routing," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 88(1), pages 3-12, January.
    2. Gilbert Laporte & François Louveaux & Hélène Mercure, 1992. "The Vehicle Routing Problem with Stochastic Travel Times," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 26(3), pages 161-170, August.
    3. Michel Gendreau & François Guertin & Jean-Yves Potvin & Éric Taillard, 1999. "Parallel Tabu Search for Real-Time Vehicle Routing and Dispatching," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 33(4), pages 381-390, November.
    4. Ioannou, George & Kritikos, Manolis & Prastacos, Gregory, 2003. "A problem generator-solver heuristic for vehicle routing with soft time windows," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 41-53, February.
    5. Yvan Dumas & François Soumis & Jacques Desrosiers, 1990. "Technical Note—Optimizing the Schedule for a Fixed Vehicle Path with Convex Inconvenience Costs," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 24(2), pages 145-152, May.
    6. Wen-Chyuan Chiang & Robert A. Russell, 1997. "A Reactive Tabu Search Metaheuristic for the Vehicle Routing Problem with Time Windows," INFORMS Journal on Computing, INFORMS, vol. 9(4), pages 417-430, November.
    7. T. Ibaraki & S. Imahori & M. Kubo & T. Masuda & T. Uno & M. Yagiura, 2005. "Effective Local Search Algorithms for Routing and Scheduling Problems with General Time-Window Constraints," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 39(2), pages 206-232, May.
    8. W-C Chiang & R A Russell, 2004. "A metaheuristic for the vehicle-routeing problem with soft time windows," Journal of the Operational Research Society, Palgrave Macmillan;The OR Society, vol. 55(12), pages 1298-1310, December.
    9. Éric Taillard & Philippe Badeau & Michel Gendreau & François Guertin & Jean-Yves Potvin, 1997. "A Tabu Search Heuristic for the Vehicle Routing Problem with Soft Time Windows," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 31(2), pages 170-186, May.
    10. Marius M. Solomon, 1987. "Algorithms for the Vehicle Routing and Scheduling Problems with Time Window Constraints," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 35(2), pages 254-265, April.
    11. Ferland, Jacques A. & Fortin, Luc, 1989. "Vehicles scheduling with sliding time windows," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 38(2), pages 213-226, January.
    12. Yiannis A. Koskosidis & Warren B. Powell & Marius M. Solomon, 1992. "An Optimization-Based Heuristic for Vehicle Routing and Scheduling with Soft Time Window Constraints," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 26(2), pages 69-85, May.
    13. Astrid S. Kenyon & David P. Morton, 2003. "Stochastic Vehicle Routing with Random Travel Times," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 37(1), pages 69-82, February.
    14. Christophe Duhamel & Jean-Yves Potvin & Jean-Marc Rousseau, 1997. "A Tabu Search Heuristic for the Vehicle Routing Problem with Backhauls and Time Windows," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 31(1), pages 49-59, February.
    15. Robert B. Noland & John W. Polak, 2002. "Travel time variability: A review of theoretical and empirical issues," Transport Reviews, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(1), pages 39-54, January.
    16. Min, Hokey, 1991. "A multiobjective vehicle routing problem with soft time windows: the case of a public library distribution system," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 25(3), pages 179-188.
    17. Chiang, Yu-Sheng & O. Roberts, Paul, 1980. "A note on transit time and reliability for regular-route trucking," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 14(1-2), pages 59-65.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Chiang, Wen-Chyuan & Russell, Robert & Xu, Xiaojing & Zepeda, David, 2009. "A simulation/metaheuristic approach to newspaper production and distribution supply chain problems," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 121(2), pages 752-767, October.
    2. Ramon Faganello Fachini & Vinícius Amaral Armentano & Franklina Maria Bragion Toledo, 2022. "A Granular Local Search Matheuristic for a Heterogeneous Fleet Vehicle Routing Problem with Stochastic Travel Times," Networks and Spatial Economics, Springer, vol. 22(1), pages 33-64, March.
    3. Patrick Jaillet & Jin Qi & Melvyn Sim, 2016. "Routing Optimization Under Uncertainty," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 64(1), pages 186-200, February.
    4. Yu Zhang & Zhenzhen Zhang & Andrew Lim & Melvyn Sim, 2021. "Robust Data-Driven Vehicle Routing with Time Windows," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 69(2), pages 469-485, March.
    5. Elgesem, Aurora Smith & Skogen, Eline Sophie & Wang, Xin & Fagerholt, Kjetil, 2018. "A traveling salesman problem with pickups and deliveries and stochastic travel times: An application from chemical shipping," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 269(3), pages 844-859.
    6. Mojtaba Rajabi-Bahaabadi & Afshin Shariat-Mohaymany & Mohsen Babaei & Daniele Vigo, 2021. "Reliable vehicle routing problem in stochastic networks with correlated travel times," Operational Research, Springer, vol. 21(1), pages 299-330, March.
    7. Taş, D. & Gendreau, M. & Dellaert, N. & van Woensel, T. & de Kok, A.G., 2014. "Vehicle routing with soft time windows and stochastic travel times: A column generation and branch-and-price solution approach," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 236(3), pages 789-799.
    8. Biao Yuan & Ran Liu & Zhibin Jiang, 2015. "A branch-and-price algorithm for the home health care scheduling and routing problem with stochastic service times and skill requirements," International Journal of Production Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 53(24), pages 7450-7464, December.
    9. Maaike Hoogeboom & Yossiri Adulyasak & Wout Dullaert & Patrick Jaillet, 2021. "The Robust Vehicle Routing Problem with Time Window Assignments," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 55(2), pages 395-413, March.
    10. Yossiri Adulyasak & Patrick Jaillet, 2016. "Models and Algorithms for Stochastic and Robust Vehicle Routing with Deadlines," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 50(2), pages 608-626, May.
    11. Jorge Oyola & Halvard Arntzen & David L. Woodruff, 2018. "The stochastic vehicle routing problem, a literature review, part I: models," EURO Journal on Transportation and Logistics, Springer;EURO - The Association of European Operational Research Societies, vol. 7(3), pages 193-221, September.
    12. Huang, Kuancheng & Wu, Kun-Feng & Ardiansyah, Muhammad Nashir, 2019. "A stochastic dairy transportation problem considering collection and delivery phases," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 325-338.
    13. Evers, Lanah & Barros, Ana Isabel & Monsuur, Herman & Wagelmans, Albert, 2014. "Online stochastic UAV mission planning with time windows and time-sensitive targets," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 238(1), pages 348-362.
    14. Chen, Xiaojing & Li, Feng & Jiang, Jiehui & Jia, Bin & Lim, Andrew & Wu, Jianjun, 2022. "Data-driven optimization: A flexible route pricing method for Non-Truck Operating Common Carriers," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    15. Junlong Zhang & William Lam & Bi Chen, 2013. "A Stochastic Vehicle Routing Problem with Travel Time Uncertainty: Trade-Off Between Cost and Customer Service," Networks and Spatial Economics, Springer, vol. 13(4), pages 471-496, December.
    16. Rafael Dawid & David McMillan & Matthew Revie, 2018. "Decision Support Tool for Offshore Wind Farm Vessel Routing under Uncertainty," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(9), pages 1-17, August.
    17. Anastasios D. Vareias & Panagiotis P. Repoussis & Panagiotis P. Repoussi, 2019. "Assessing Customer Service Reliability in Route Planning with Self-Imposed Time Windows and Stochastic Travel Times," Service Science, INFORMS, vol. 53(1), pages 256-281, February.
    18. Jorge Oyola & Halvard Arntzen & David L. Woodruff, 2017. "The stochastic vehicle routing problem, a literature review, Part II: solution methods," EURO Journal on Transportation and Logistics, Springer;EURO - The Association of European Operational Research Societies, vol. 6(4), pages 349-388, December.
    19. Axel Parmentier, 2019. "Algorithms for non-linear and stochastic resource constrained shortest path," Mathematical Methods of Operations Research, Springer;Gesellschaft für Operations Research (GOR);Nederlands Genootschap voor Besliskunde (NGB), vol. 89(2), pages 281-317, April.
    20. Redmond, Michael & Campbell, Ann Melissa & Ehmke, Jan Fabian, 2022. "Reliability in public transit networks considering backup itineraries," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 300(3), pages 852-864.
    21. Verbeeck, C. & Vansteenwegen, P. & Aghezzaf, E.-H., 2016. "Solving the stochastic time-dependent orienteering problem with time windows," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 255(3), pages 699-718.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Matteo Salani & Maria Battarra, 2018. "The opportunity cost of time window violations," EURO Journal on Transportation and Logistics, Springer;EURO - The Association of European Operational Research Societies, vol. 7(4), pages 343-361, December.
    2. Sébastien Mouthuy & Florence Massen & Yves Deville & Pascal Van Hentenryck, 2015. "A Multistage Very Large-Scale Neighborhood Search for the Vehicle Routing Problem with Soft Time Windows," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 49(2), pages 223-238, May.
    3. Chiang, Wen-Chyuan & Russell, Robert & Xu, Xiaojing & Zepeda, David, 2009. "A simulation/metaheuristic approach to newspaper production and distribution supply chain problems," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 121(2), pages 752-767, October.
    4. Baals, Julian & Emde, Simon & Turkensteen, Marcel, 2023. "Minimizing earliness-tardiness costs in supplier networks—A just-in-time truck routing problem," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 306(2), pages 707-741.
    5. Junlong Zhang & William Lam & Bi Chen, 2013. "A Stochastic Vehicle Routing Problem with Travel Time Uncertainty: Trade-Off Between Cost and Customer Service," Networks and Spatial Economics, Springer, vol. 13(4), pages 471-496, December.
    6. Hideki Hashimoto & Mutsunori Yagiura & Shinji Imahori & Toshihide Ibaraki, 2013. "Recent progress of local search in handling the time window constraints of the vehicle routing problem," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 204(1), pages 171-187, April.
    7. Pillac, Victor & Gendreau, Michel & Guéret, Christelle & Medaglia, Andrés L., 2013. "A review of dynamic vehicle routing problems," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 225(1), pages 1-11.
    8. Z Fu & R Eglese & L Y O Li, 2008. "A unified tabu search algorithm for vehicle routing problems with soft time windows," Journal of the Operational Research Society, Palgrave Macmillan;The OR Society, vol. 59(5), pages 663-673, May.
    9. K H Kim & M J Lee, 2007. "Scheduling trucks in local depots for door-to-door delivery services," Journal of the Operational Research Society, Palgrave Macmillan;The OR Society, vol. 58(9), pages 1195-1202, September.
    10. Bhusiri, Narath & Qureshi, Ali Gul & Taniguchi, Eiichi, 2014. "The trade-off between fixed vehicle costs and time-dependent arrival penalties in a routing problem," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 1-22.
    11. Andrew Lim & Xingwen Zhang, 2007. "A Two-Stage Heuristic with Ejection Pools and Generalized Ejection Chains for the Vehicle Routing Problem with Time Windows," INFORMS Journal on Computing, INFORMS, vol. 19(3), pages 443-457, August.
    12. Jbili, S. & Chelbi, A. & Radhoui, M. & Kessentini, M., 2018. "Integrated strategy of Vehicle Routing and Maintenance," Reliability Engineering and System Safety, Elsevier, vol. 170(C), pages 202-214.
    13. Mojtaba Rajabi-Bahaabadi & Afshin Shariat-Mohaymany & Mohsen Babaei & Daniele Vigo, 2021. "Reliable vehicle routing problem in stochastic networks with correlated travel times," Operational Research, Springer, vol. 21(1), pages 299-330, March.
    14. Marielle Christiansen & Kjetil Fagerholt, 2002. "Robust ship scheduling with multiple time windows," Naval Research Logistics (NRL), John Wiley & Sons, vol. 49(6), pages 611-625, September.
    15. Zolfagharinia, Hossein & Haughton, Michael, 2018. "The importance of considering non-linear layover and delay costs for local truckers," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 331-355.
    16. Calvete, Herminia I. & Gale, Carmen & Oliveros, Maria-Jose & Sanchez-Valverde, Belen, 2007. "A goal programming approach to vehicle routing problems with soft time windows," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 177(3), pages 1720-1733, March.
    17. Jinil Han & Chungmok Lee & Sungsoo Park, 2014. "A Robust Scenario Approach for the Vehicle Routing Problem with Uncertain Travel Times," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 48(3), pages 373-390, August.
    18. Sana Jawarneh & Salwani Abdullah, 2015. "Sequential Insertion Heuristic with Adaptive Bee Colony Optimisation Algorithm for Vehicle Routing Problem with Time Windows," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(7), pages 1-23, July.
    19. Bhoopalam, Anirudh Kishore & Agatz, Niels & Zuidwijk, Rob, 2018. "Planning of truck platoons: A literature review and directions for future research," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 212-228.
    20. Fagerholt, Kjetil, 2001. "Ship scheduling with soft time windows: An optimisation based approach," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 131(3), pages 559-571, June.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:pal:jorsoc:v:59:y:2008:i:9:d:10.1057_palgrave.jors.2602465. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.palgrave-journals.com/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.