(A) heuristic algorithm for the vehicle routing problem with fixed costs

Abstract

This thesis presents a heuristic algorithm for the vehicle routing problem with fixed costs. In this algorithm, the generalized assignment heuristic developed by Fisher and Jaikumar is extended, which solves the vehicle routing problem only without fixed costs. A realistic variation of the problem in which there are limits on the number of vehicles of each type can be considered in this heuristic. And the microcomputer application of the heuristic algorithm described in this thesis is also considered. Finally, meaningful computational results and suggestions for further study are presented.