A deterministic annealing algorithm for the pre- and end-haulage of intermodal container terminals

Abstract

The drayage of containers in the service area of an intermodal barge terminal is modelled as a full truckload pickup and delivery problem with time windows (FTPDPTW). Initial solutions are generated with an insertion heuristic and improved with three local search operators. In a post-optimization phase the three search operators are integrated in a deterministic annealing (DA) framework. The mechanism of the heuristic procedures is demonstrated with a numerical example. A sensitivity analysis indicates that the DA algorithm is robust with respect to variations in threshold value and quality of the initial solution.

Integrated planning of loaded and empty container movements

“…Deterministic annealing has been proven more effective than its stochastic counterpart simulated annealing for several problems. Recently, deterministic annealing has been successfully implemented for a number of vehicle routing problems (Bräysy et al, 2003;Caris and Janssens, 2010;Nikolakopoulos and Sarimveis, 2007;Tarantilis et al, 2004).…”

“…The proposed deterministic annealing scheme is based on the one in Bräysy et al (2008) and Caris and Janssens (2010). It is shown in Algorithm 1.…”

Optimization of empty container movements in intermodal transport

“…(2008a) and Caris and Janssens (2010), as presented in Algorithm 1. The current best solution x b is set to the best solution found by the insertion heuristic and the threshold value T is set to its maximum value T max .…”

“…T is gradually lowered during the search until only solutions improving the objective value are accepted . Recently, deterministic annealing has been successfully implemented for a number of vehicle routing problems (Bräysy et al, 2003(Bräysy et al, , 2008aTarantilis et al, 2004;Nikolakopoulos and Sarimveis, 2007;Caris and Janssens, 2010).…”

An exact algorithm for the full truckload pick-up and delivery problem with time windows: concept and implementation details

“…A two-phase insertion heuristic and a local search procedure are proposed. In a subsequent work, a deterministic annealing algorithm is developed to solve the problem (Caris and Janssens 2010). In Section 2, related literature is reviewed.…”