This paper introduces an advanced variant of the Vehicle Routing Problem with Inaccessible Customers (VRP-IC), tailored to address scenarios where customers in specific zones are rendered inaccessible due to road damage or zone controls. Customers are categorized into two segments: those reachable via traditional routes and those necessitating indirect delivery through transfer station, serviced by a distinct vehicle fleet. This paper extends the standard Vehicle Routing Problem (VRP) model to encapsulate these accessibility challenges, offering a realistic portrayal of routing difficulties posed by external constraints like natural disasters and urban restrictions. Methodologically, we employ Gurobi to solve the VRP-IC to efficiently handle the dual delivery mechanism, optimizing both direct and indirect routes while minimizing costs. This approach presents a robust solution to VRPs complicated by access limitations, particularly valuable for logistical planning in disaster-stricken or regulation-heavy areas. Numerical examples are carried out to highlight the practical relevance of our approach, showcasing its potential to revolutionize logistics planning in environments affected by accessibility constraints.
Addressing inaccessible customers in the vehicle routing problem
International Conference on Frontiers of Traffic and Transportation Engineering (FTTE 2024) ; 2024 ; Lanzhou, China
Proc. SPIE ; 13645
2025-06-16
Conference paper
Electronic Resource
English
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