A tabu search heuristic for the local container drayage problem under a new operation mode

•Studying the local container drayage problem under a new operation mode.•Considering the sharing of empty containers between delivery and pickup customers.•Incorporating a set of temporal constraints into the classical VRP to realize the operation mode.•Developing a competitive tabu search heuristic to solve the problem.

This paper examines the Local Container Drayage Problem (LCDP) under an operation mode in which a tractor can be detached from its companion trailer and assigned to a new task. We have incorporated a set of temporal constraints into the classical VRP to realize this operation by utilizing the idle time available to tractors and coordinating the empty containers moving between customers. A tabu search algorithm is proposed. Some numerical experiments are conducted to assess the performance of the proposed algorithm, quantify the benefit of the new operation mode, and identify the conditions under which the mode is effective.