We suggest an efficient algorithm for the vehicle routing problem with time windows (VRPTW) based on agent negotiation. The algorithm is based on a set of generic negotiation methods and state-of-the-art insertion heuristics. Experimental results on well known Solomon’s and HombergerGehring benchmarks demonstrate that the algorithm outperforms previous agent based algorithms. The relevance of t...

As transportation problems grow larger with the new world economy, so do the problem size and complexity. To be able to produce consistent solutions, individual solving methods tends to be very complex. Also, a compromise between solution quality and computing time needs to be reached. Transportation problems such as Vehicle Routing Problem with Time Windows (VRPTW ) are very difficult to solve...

 We consider a pickup and delivery vehicle routing problem (PDP) commonly find in real-world logistics operations. The problem includes a set of practical complications that have received little attention in the vehicle routing literature. In this problem, there are multiple vehicle types available to cover a set of transportation orders, each of which has pickup time windows and delivery time...

In the vehicle routing problem with time windows a number of identical vehicles must be routed to and from a depot to cover a given set of customers, each of whom has a speciied time interval indicating when they are available for service. Each customer also has a known demand, and a vehicle may only serve the customers on a route if the total demand does not exceed the capacity of the vehicle....