Urban Freight Transport: From Optimized Routes to Robust Routes

Abstract

This paper considers two well-known strategies for the organization of tours for urban deliveries: the vehicle routing problem (VRP) and the optimization of vehicle loading plan problem. Experience shows that optimal solutions are rarely implemented given the many intervening disturbances on an urban tour. As illustrated using a simple theoretical scenario, we propose a hybrid approach between the two strategies and introduce the concept of robustness in the tour, in order to guarantee a predefined level of performance.