Reducing Carbon Emissions for the Vehicle Routing Problem by Utilizing Multiple Depots

Abstract

Emission reductions could be achieved by replacing the single-depot mode with a multi-depot mode of vehicle routing. In our study, we identified situations under which multiple depots could be used to effectively reduce carbon emissions. We proposed a branch-and-price (BAP) algorithm to obtain an optimal solution for the multi-depot green vehicle routing problem. Based on the BAP algorithm, we accurately quantified the carbon emission reduction potential of the multi-depot mode over the single-depot mode. Factors such as the number of depots, vehicle speed, customer demand, and service time were considered and analyzed. Computational tests were conducted, and the results showed that using multiple depots in a vehicle routing problem can reduce carbon emissions by at most 37.6%. In sensitivity analyses, we show relationships between these factors, and several managerial insights that can be used to successfully reduce carbon emissions were summarized.