A Branch-and-Cut Algorithm for the Symmetric Two-Echelon Capacitated Vehicle Routing Problem

Mads Jepsen (), Simon Spoorendonk () and Stefan Ropke ()
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Mads Jepsen: Department of Management Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, 2800 Kgs.Lynby, Denmark
Simon Spoorendonk: Department of Management Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, 2800 Kgs.Lynby, Denmark
Stefan Ropke: Department of Transport, Technical University of Denmark, 2800 Kgs.Lynby, Denmark

Transportation Science, 2013, vol. 47, issue 1, 23-37

Abstract: This paper presents an exact method for solving the symmetric two-echelon capacitated vehicle routing problem, a transportation problem concerned with the distribution of goods from a depot to a set of customers through a set of satellite locations. The presented method is based on an edge flow model that is a relaxation and provides a valid lower bound. A specialized branching scheme is employed to obtain feasible solutions. Out of a test set of 93 instances the algorithm is able to solve 47 to optimality, surpassing previous exact algorithms.

Keywords: vehicle routing; two-echelon systems; branch-and-cut (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (31)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:inm:ortrsc:v:47:y:2013:i:1:p:23-37

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