Vehicle Routing Problem Using Savings-Insertion and Reactive Tabu with a Variable Threshold

This paper focuses on how the competitiveness of companies is impacted by products distribution and transportation costs, especially in the context of exports. This paper uses our two-steps approach, consisting of building a good initial solution and then improving it to solve vehicle routing problem. To that end, first, our mathematical model is adapted; secondly, our Savings-insertion builds a good initial solution, and thirdly, our Reactive tabu with a variable threshold improves the initial solution. The objective is the minimization of the total distance of transport by respecting the specified time window and the demand of all customers, which are important for some transportation companies’. Finally, the experimental results obtained with our methodology for Solomon 100 customers 56 vehicle routing problems are provided and discussed. Our methodology provides the best solutions for problems types R2 and RC2. Therefore, using our methodology reduces the total distance for long-haul vehicle routing problems.