Optimization On Combined Scheduling Of Tractor And Trailer Routing Problem Considering Synchronized Operations

The tractor and trailer transport is such an advanced mode of transport that, according to the predetermined operation plan, the tractor drops a trailer at the loading/unloading node, and pulls another trailer to keep operating. The tractor and trailer transport has the unique characteristic of "synchronized operation by multi-machines". Based on the analysis of the characteristic, this paper proposed a combined scheduling model in the tractor and trailer transport under the cycle mode. A heuristic algorithm was proposed to solve the proposed problem. Numerical experiments were carried out to testify the effectiveness of the proposed mathematical model and algorithm. Sensitivity analysis on key parameters shows the effect of different scheduling rule and proportion of tractor-to-trailers on transport cost.