Optimising parcel deliveries in London using dual-mode routing

Abstract

Last-mile delivery operations are complex, and the conventional way of using a single mode of delivery (e.g. driving) is not necessarily an efficient strategy. This paper describes a two-level parcel distribution model that combines walking and driving for a single driver. The model aims to minimise the total travelling time by scheduling a vehicle’s routing and the driver’s walking sequence when making deliveries, taking decisions on parking locations into consideration. The model is a variant of the Clustered Travelling Salesman Problem with Time Windows, in which the sequence of visits within each cluster is required to form a closed tour. When applied to a case study of an actual vehicle round from a parcel carrier operating in London, savings of over 20% in the total operation time were returned over the current situation where 144 parcels were being delivered to 57 delivery locations.

Keywords:

• Clustered travelling salesman problem
• last-mile delivery
• time windows

Acknowlegements

The authors thank the two anonymous reviewers for their comments on an earlier version of this paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Responsibility for the contents of the paper rests with the authors.

Notes

1 We elaborate further on the choice of clustering in the conclusions.

Additional information

Funding

The authors gratefully acknowledge the EPSRC for funding this work through its financial support of Freight Traffic Control 2050 (www.ftc2050.com), EPSRC Grant Reference: EP/N02222X/1.