Exact Algorithms for the Clustered Vehicle Routing Problem

Maria Battarra, G Erdogan, Daniele Vigo

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

100 Citations (SciVal)
443 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

This study presents new exact algorithms for the clustered vehicle routing problem (CluVRP). The CluVRP is a generalization of the capacitated vehicle routing problem (CVRP), in which the customers are grouped into clusters. As in the CVRP, all the customers must be visited exactly once, but a vehicle visiting one customer in a cluster must visit all the remaining customers therein before leaving it. Based on an exponential time preprocessing scheme, an integer programming formulation for the CluVRP is presented. The formulation is enhanced by a polynomial time graph reduction scheme. Two exact algorithms for the CluVRP, a branch and cut as well as a branch and cut and price, are presented. The computational performances of the algorithms are tested on benchmark instances adapted from the vehicle routing problem literature as well as real-world instances from a solid waste collection application.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)58-71
Number of pages15
JournalOperations Research
Volume62
Issue number1
Early online date13 Jan 2014
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 13 Jan 2014

Keywords

  • clusters
  • vehicle routing
  • branch and cut

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Exact Algorithms for the Clustered Vehicle Routing Problem'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this