Genetic-based scheduling to solve the parcel hub scheduling problem

The parcel hub scheduling problem (PHSP) is scheduling problem that is common in the parcel delivery industry. The PHSP consists of scheduling a set of inbound trailers containing a batch of heterogeneous parcels to a set of unload docks with the objective of minimizing the time span of the transfer operation. The transfer operation involves unloading the inbound trailers and sorting and loading the parcels onto outbound trailers. The unload schedule can have a significant impact on the amount of time required to complete the transfer operation. In this paper, a mathematical model is proposed to solve small-size problems and a genetic algorithm is presented to solve the large-size problems with minimum computational time compared to other competing approaches.