The long-haul full-load vehicle routing and truck driver scheduling problem with intermediate stops: An economic impact evaluation of Brazilian policy

Sérgio Fernando Mayerle, Daiane Maria De Genaro Chiroli, João Neiva de Figueiredo and Hidelbrando Ferreira Rodrigues

Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, 2020, vol. 140, issue C, 36-51

Abstract: This paper presents a methodology to identify the economic impact of different policies for heavy vehicle routing and driver scheduling in long-haul full-load trips with intermediate stops for refueling and for regulation-driven meal and rest periods. This methodology can be used both as a planning tool to help policy-makers define policies through scenario simulations, and as an evaluation tool to examine ex-post economic impact once policies have been changed as illustrated herein for the Brazilian case. The paper introduces a mathematical formulation, proposes a state-space graph search approach, and develops an algorithmic solution for a variant of the vehicle routing and truck driver scheduling problem with intermediate stops (VRTDSPIS), which is especially important in countries with vast territory where long-range freight trucking trips are common. In addition, it is particularly relevant for the economies of emerging markets that may have evolving regulatory frameworks and suboptimal infrastructure environments. Regulatory maximum driving and minimum driver resting time windows impose significant constraints to trucker routines, especially in sparsely populated regions through which long range vehicle trips with full load are common. Such trips can take days to be concluded and numerous alternative routes are possible, each with very different alternatives for refueling and rest. While the literature to date has focused mostly on truck driver scheduling given pre-determined routes and individual country’s laws and regulations, this paper proposes a joint solution for the routing and scheduling problem with time window constraints, determining simultaneously a routing and scheduling plan that meets all maximum driving and minimum resting time interval regulatory requirements at minimum cost. An illustration applying the methodology to evaluate the economic impact of truck driver regulatory changes in Brazil is presented.

Keywords: Trucking policy planning and evaluation; Road freight in emerging markets; Vehicle routing and driver scheduling problem; Full-load long haul trip optimization; Driver regulatory constraints (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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DOI: 10.1016/j.tra.2020.07.021

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