A fuzzy approach to the vehicle assignment problem

Abstract

Transportation companies receive a great number of requests every day from clients wanting to send goods to different destinations. Their fleets often consist of several different types of vehicles. Dispatchers assign vehicles to transportation requests relying primarily on their experience and intuition. When assigning a certain type of vehicle to a transportation request, the dispatcher must bear in mind a large number of different factors. This paper considers the vehicle assignment problem when vehicle dispatching is done "today for tomorrow". The paper develops a model based on fuzzy logic that assigns different types of vehicles to planned transportation tasks. The model is tested on a real numerical example. The results of testing the model indicate that it outperforms the work of an experienced dispatcher.

Influence of the maintenance management with a comprehensive approach on the efficient and rational operation of vehicle fleets

“…Mnogi autori u svojim istraživanjima koriste različite matematičke i analitičke pristupe i predlažu TEHNIKA -SAOBRAĆAJ 64 (2017) 6 887 mere u oblasti upravljanja radom voznih parkova, kako bi se obavio zadati obim transportnog rada na što efikasniji i racionalniji način [13,14,15]. Autori radova [16,17] ističu značaj boljeg iskorišćenja korisne nosivosti vozila na smanjenje emisije štetnih izduvnih gasova i na povećanje energetske efikasnosti voznog parka, odnosno na smanjenje troškova transporta.…”

Traffic Control and Transport Planning:

“…At the end of the 1980s and Preface xiii beginning of the 1990s, the fuzzy set theory in traffic and transportation became extensively used. (1994), Teodorovic (1994), Teodorovic and Kalic (1995), Milosavljevic et al (1996), Teodorovic and Pavkovic (1996), Teodorovic and Lucic (1998) and Tzeng et aI. At the beginning and mid-1990s, interest in fuzzy logic applications in traffic and transportation increased in other world universities.…”

“…Recently Milosavljevic et al (1996) considered the vehicle assignment problem. The basic goal of their research is to develop a model that will be able to imitate the work of an experienced dispatcher.…”

“…The basic goal of their research is to develop a model that will be able to imitate the work of an experienced dispatcher. Let us present the results achieved by Milosavljevic et al (1996). The problem considered in the mentioned paper was not one requiring "real-time" dispatching (which is needed to dispatch ambulances, fire department vehicles, police patrol units, taxis, dial-a-ride systems, and so on).…”

“…The problem considered by Milosavljevic et al (1996) is to determine the value of fij (i = 1, 2, ... , m, j = 1, 2, ... , n) so that the available vehicles are assigned to planned transportation tasks "in the best possible way." The expression "the best possible way" naturally requires more detailed discussion.…”