A branch-and-cut-and-price algorithm for the multi-depot heterogeneous vehicle routing problem with time windows

We present a branch-and-cut-and-price algorithm for the exact solution of a variation of the vehicle routing problem with time windows in which the transportation fleet is made by vehicles with different capacities and fixed costs, based at different depots. We illustrate different pricing and cutting techniques and we present an experimental evaluation of their combinations. Computational results are reported on the use of the algorithm both for exact optimization and as a heuristic method.