A Systematic Literature Review of Vehicle Routing Problems with Time Windows

Xiaobo Liu, Yen-Lin Chen (), Lip Yee Por () and Chin Soon Ku ()
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Xiaobo Liu: Department of Computer System and Technology, Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology, Universiti Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia
Yen-Lin Chen: Department of Computer Science and Information Engineering, National Taipei University of Technology, Taipei 106344, Taiwan
Lip Yee Por: Department of Computer System and Technology, Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology, Universiti Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia
Chin Soon Ku: Department of Computer Science, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman, Kampar 31900, Malaysia

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 15, 1-20

Abstract: Vehicle routing problems with time windows (VRPTW) have gained a lot of attention due to their important role in real-life logistics and transport. As a result of the complexity of real-life situations, most problems are multi-constrained and multi-objective, which increases their difficulty. The aim of this paper is to contribute to the effective solution of VRPTW-related problems. Therefore, research questions and objectives are set in accordance with PRISMA guidelines, and data extraction and analysis of the relevant literature within the last five years (2018–2022) are compared to answer the set research questions. The results show that approximately 86% of the algorithms involved in the literature are approximate methods, with more meta-heuristics than heuristics, and nearly 40% of the literature uses hybrid methods combining two or more algorithms.

Keywords: vehicle routing; vehicle routing problems (VRP); vehicle routing problems with time windows (VRPTW); time windows (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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