The stochastic multi-modal hub location problem with direct link strategy and multiple capacity levels for cargo delivery systems

Abstract

This paper introduces the stochastic multi-modal hub location problem with direct link strategy and multiple capacity levels for cargo delivery systems under demand uncertainty. For capturing the uncertain nature of demand, we present a stochastic optimization model to formulate this problem formally via the expected value and the chance-constrained programming techniques. Under some mild assumptions, we propose a computationally tractable approach to turn the original model into a crisp equivalent integer second-order cone programming model, which can be efficiently solved by CPLEX for only small instances. Hence, we design a memetic algorithm incorporating genetic search and local intensification for realistic size instances. Furthermore, we provide extended analyses of the original model by considering the mode-specific hub and incorporating the fixed transportation cost. To demonstrate the superiority of the proposed model and the effectiveness of the solution approach, we conduct a series of computational experiments based on Turkish network data set.

Keywords:

• Hub location problem
• cargo delivery systems
• hybrid hub-and-spoke topology
• stochastic programming
• memetic algorithm

Acknowledgments

Xiaoting Shang gratefully acknowledges the support from China Scholarship Council (No. 201907090075) during her research visit at Department of Mechanical, Automotive & Materials Engineering, University of Windsor.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported the National Key R&D Program of China [grant number 2018YFB1600900], the National Natural Science Foundation of China [grant numbers 71701012, 71890972/71890970, 71971015, 71621001 and 71631007] and the State Key Laboratory of Rail Traffic Control and Safety [grant number RCS2019K002], Beijing Jiaotong University.