Multi-Compartment Vehicle Routing Problem Considering Traffic Congestion under the Mixed Carbon Policy

Abstract

The use of multi-compartment vehicles (MCVs) in urban logistics distribution is increasing. However, urban traffic congestion causes high carbon emissions in the logistics distribution, resulting in unsustainable development in urban transportation. In addition, the application of the mixed carbon policy has gradually become the first choice for energy conservation and emission reduction in some countries and regions. The transportation industry is a major carbon-emitting industry, which needs to be constrained by carbon emission reduction policies. In this context, the research on the multi-compartment vehicle routing problem (MCVRP) considering traffic congestion under the mixed carbon policy is carried out. Firstly, a mathematical model of MCVRP considering traffic congestion under the mixed carbon policy is constructed. Secondly, a two-stage variable neighborhood threshold acceptance algorithm (VNS-TA) is proposed to solve the above mathematical model. Thirdly, 14 adapted standard examples of the MCVRP are used to verify the effectiveness and optimization ability of the two-stage VNS-TA algorithm. A simulation example of the MCVRP considering traffic congestion under the mixed carbon policy is used to conduct sensitivity analyses for different scenarios. Finally, the following conclusions are drawn: (1) the two-stage VNS-TA algorithm is effective and has strong optimization ability in solving the basic MCVRP, and (2) the two-stage VNS-TA algorithm can solve and optimize the MCVRP considering traffic congestion under the mixed carbon policy, which has the effects of cost saving and energy conservation and emission reduction.

An Exact Approach to the Multi-Compartment Vehicle Routing Problem: The Case of a Fuel Distribution Company

“…Constraints (12) and ( 13) are applied to assess the average capacity utilization and resultant carbon emissions from the fuel consumption of each vehicle during deliveries. Finally, the domain constraints for the decision variables are addressed in ( 14)- (19).…”

“…In contrast, the MCVRP involves vehicles with multiple compartments, each capable for carrying different types of goods or materials that are incompatible or for which their contact may be unstable or dangerous [17,18]. As noted by [19], the use of multi-compartment vehicles increases the actual logistics owing to the increasing mutually exclusive product variability, with the advantages of cost reduction and emission reduction compared with those of common single-compartment vehicles. The variants of the MCVRP are NP-hard problems [20], and the limitations of the exact approaches have been bridging the scope to heuristic/metaheuristic algorithms [21][22][23], demonstrating the model research and solution improvement to address the complexity of these decision problems, particularly in a realworld context.…”

Development of New Mathematical Methods and Software Applications for More Efficient and Sustainable Road Freight Transportation

“…Several publications deal with the optimal performance of road freight transport through an efficient organization of transport tasks resulting in the reduction in transport costs [34][35][36]. The relevant publications discuss the optimal design of round trips using different methods, for example, the selection of optimal transport routes, the elimination of empty runs, the integration of several transport tasks into one round trip, as well as the use of multimodal transport modes to maximize the use of vehicle capacity [37][38][39][40]. The relevant publications dealing with the overall costs of transport activity have also been reviewed [41][42][43].…”