Algorithms for a Vehicle Routing Tool Supporting Express Freight Delivery in Small Trucking Companies

We present a tool to support the operations manager of small trucking companies. The tool integrates modules to manage pickup/delivery requests, determine initial assignment to trucks and service routes, react to dynamic events, support demand forecasting. Modules are interconnected by a cloud platform and take advantage from real-time data sharing. The core of the tool is a neighborhood search heuristic for a Vehicle Routing Problem with side attributes, to be solved in both static and dynamic settings. The efficiency of the algorithm is improved by enhanced search strategies, neighbor filtering and parallel implementation. A prototype implementation of the tool currently supports the operations at Trans-cel, a small freight transportation company. Tests on the field on different operational scenarios show that the algorithm fits both static and dynamic settings in terms of running times and quality of the suggested solutions.