The vehicle routing problem with backhauls: A multi-objective evolutionary approach

Abstract

In the Vehicle Routing Problem with Backhauls there are linehaul customers, who demand products, and backhaul customers, who supply products, and there is a fleet of vehicles available for servicing customers. The problem consists in finding a set of routes with the minimum cost, such that all customers are serviced. A generalization of this problem considers the collection from the backhaul customers optional. If the number of vehicles, the cost, and the uncollected demand are assumed to be equally important objectives, the problem can be tackled as a multi-objective optimization problem. In this paper, we solve these as multi-objective problems with an adapted previously proposed evolutionary algorithm and evaluate its performance with proper tools. © 2012 Springer-Verlag.