A hybrid algorithm for the Heterogeneous Fleet Vehicle Routing Problem

This paper deals with the Heterogeneous Fleet Vehicle Routing Problem (HFVRP). The HFVRP generalizes the classical Capacitated Vehicle Routing Problem by considering the existence of different vehicle types, with distinct capacities and costs. The objective is to determine the best fleet composition as well as the set of routes that minimize the total costs. The proposed hybrid algorithm is composed by an Iterated Local Search (ILS) based heuristic and a Set Partitioning (SP) formulation. The SP model is solved by means of a Mixed Integer Programming solver that interactively calls the ILS heuristic during its execution. The developed algorithm was tested in benchmark instances with up to 360 customers. The results obtained are quite competitive with those found in the literature and new improved solutions are reported.

► We propose a hybrid algorithm to solve five well-known variants of the HFVRP.
► Our algorithm is composed by an ILS based heuristic and Set Partitioning approach.
► The results obtained are competitive with respect to solution quality and CPU time.