IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/aqjoor/v23y2025i2d10.1007_s10288-024-00573-9.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Workload equity in vehicle routing with a medium-term perspective

Author

Listed:
  • Maxime Agius

    (Mines Saint-Etienne, Univ Clermont Auvergne, INP Clermont Auvergne, CNRS, UMR 6158 LIMOS)

  • Nabil Absi

    (Mines Saint-Etienne, Univ Clermont Auvergne, INP Clermont Auvergne, CNRS, UMR 6158 LIMOS
    Mohammed VI Polytechnic University)

  • Dominique Feillet

    (Mines Saint-Etienne, Univ Clermont Auvergne, INP Clermont Auvergne, CNRS, UMR 6158 LIMOS)

  • Thierry Garaix

    (Mines Saint-Etienne, Univ Clermont Auvergne, INP Clermont Auvergne, CNRS, UMR 6158 LIMOS)

Abstract

In the vehicle routing literature, equity for drivers is mostly considered on a daily basis. In this work, we extend the literature by addressing equity on a longer term. We consider a time horizon of a few weeks and a test-bed routing problem motivated by healthcare logistics, with customer demand progressively revealed. Having unbalanced routes at some periods (days) is accepted, but some degree of equity is imposed on the complete horizon. We propose five solution frameworks with different levels of control on equity. A dedicated branch-and-price algorithm is used to solve the daily routing problem and is adapted for the different solution frameworks. Numerical experiments are conducted on a benchmark of realistic instances to evaluate how addressing equity this way impacts the routing cost, equity and feasibility.

Suggested Citation

  • Maxime Agius & Nabil Absi & Dominique Feillet & Thierry Garaix, 2025. "Workload equity in vehicle routing with a medium-term perspective," 4OR, Springer, vol. 23(2), pages 129-162, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:aqjoor:v:23:y:2025:i:2:d:10.1007_s10288-024-00573-9
    DOI: 10.1007/s10288-024-00573-9
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10288-024-00573-9
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10288-024-00573-9?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Halvorsen-Weare, Elin E. & Savelsbergh, Martin W.P., 2016. "The bi-objective mixed capacitated general routing problem with different route balance criteria," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 251(2), pages 451-465.
    2. Pillac, Victor & Gendreau, Michel & Guéret, Christelle & Medaglia, Andrés L., 2013. "A review of dynamic vehicle routing problems," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 225(1), pages 1-11.
    3. G. B. Dantzig & J. H. Ramser, 1959. "The Truck Dispatching Problem," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 6(1), pages 80-91, October.
    4. P. Matl & R. F. Hartl & T. Vidal, 2018. "Workload Equity in Vehicle Routing Problems: A Survey and Analysis," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 52(2), pages 239-260, March.
    5. Yang Wang & Lei Zhao & Martin Savelsbergh & Shengnan Wu, 2022. "Multi-Period Workload Balancing in Last-Mile Urban Delivery," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 56(5), pages 1348-1368, September.
    6. Paola Cappanera & Maria Grazia Scutellà, 2015. "Joint Assignment, Scheduling, and Routing Models to Home Care Optimization: A Pattern-Based Approach," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 49(4), pages 830-852, November.
    7. Fred Blakeley & Burçin Argüello & Buyang Cao & Wolfgang Hall & Joseph Knolmajer, 2003. "Optimizing Periodic Maintenance Operations for Schindler Elevator Corporation," Interfaces, INFORMS, vol. 33(1), pages 67-79, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. John E. Fontecha & Oscar O. Guaje & Daniel Duque & Raha Akhavan-Tabatabaei & Juan P. Rodríguez & Andrés L. Medaglia, 2020. "Combined maintenance and routing optimization for large-scale sewage cleaning," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 286(1), pages 441-474, March.
    2. Mohamed Cissé & Semih Yalçindag & Yannick Kergosien & Evren Sahin & Christophe Lenté & Andrea Matta, 2017. "OR problems related to Home Health Care: A review of relevant routing and scheduling problems," Post-Print hal-01736714, HAL.
    3. Vidal, Thibaut & Laporte, Gilbert & Matl, Piotr, 2020. "A concise guide to existing and emerging vehicle routing problem variants," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 286(2), pages 401-416.
    4. Nicolas Rincon-Garcia & Ben J. Waterson & Tom J. Cherrett, 2018. "Requirements from vehicle routing software: perspectives from literature, developers and the freight industry," Transport Reviews, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(1), pages 117-138, January.
    5. Ji, Chenlu & Mandania, Rupal & Liu, Jiyin & Liret, Anne, 2022. "Scheduling on-site service deliveries to minimise the risk of missing appointment times," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    6. Yuxin Liu & Zihang Qin & Jin Liu, 2023. "An Improved Genetic Algorithm for the Granularity-Based Split Vehicle Routing Problem with Simultaneous Delivery and Pickup," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 11(15), pages 1-15, July.
    7. Dukkanci, Okan & Karsu, Özlem & Kara, Bahar Y., 2022. "Planning sustainable routes: Economic, environmental and welfare concerns," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 301(1), pages 110-123.
    8. Stefan Vonolfen & Michael Affenzeller, 2016. "Distribution of waiting time for dynamic pickup and delivery problems," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 236(2), pages 359-382, January.
    9. Richard Eglese & Sofoclis Zambirinis, 2018. "Disruption management in vehicle routing and scheduling for road freight transport: a review," TOP: An Official Journal of the Spanish Society of Statistics and Operations Research, Springer;Sociedad de Estadística e Investigación Operativa, vol. 26(1), pages 1-17, April.
    10. Markov, Iliya & Bierlaire, Michel & Cordeau, Jean-François & Maknoon, Yousef & Varone, Sacha, 2018. "A unified framework for rich routing problems with stochastic demands," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 213-240.
    11. Dennis Adelhütte & Kristin Braun & Frauke Liers & Sebastian Tschuppik, 2025. "Minimizing delays of patient transports with incomplete information: A modeling approach based on the vehicle routing problem," OR Spectrum: Quantitative Approaches in Management, Springer;Gesellschaft für Operations Research e.V., vol. 47(2), pages 565-604, June.
    12. Yan Cheng Hsu & Jose L. Walteros & Rajan Batta, 2020. "Solving the petroleum replenishment and routing problem with variable demands and time windows," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 294(1), pages 9-46, November.
    13. Hualong Yang & Liang Zhao & Di Ye & Jiangshan Ma, 2020. "Disturbance management for vehicle routing with time window changes," Operational Research, Springer, vol. 20(2), pages 1093-1112, June.
    14. Xian Cheng & Shaoyi Liao & Zhongsheng Hua, 2017. "A policy of picking up parcels for express courier service in dynamic environments," International Journal of Production Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 55(9), pages 2470-2488, May.
    15. Briseida Sarasola & Karl Doerner & Verena Schmid & Enrique Alba, 2016. "Variable neighborhood search for the stochastic and dynamic vehicle routing problem," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 236(2), pages 425-461, January.
    16. Wang, Jianxin & Lim, Ming K. & Liu, Weihua, 2024. "Promoting intelligent IoT-driven logistics through integrating dynamic demand and sustainable logistics operations," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 185(C).
    17. F. Hooshmand Khaligh & S.A. MirHassani, 2016. "A mathematical model for vehicle routing problem under endogenous uncertainty," International Journal of Production Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 54(2), pages 579-590, January.
    18. Hua, Mingzhuang & Chen, Xuewu & Chen, Jingxu & Huang, Di & Cheng, Long, 2022. "Large-scale dockless bike sharing repositioning considering future usage and workload balance," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 605(C).
    19. Shengbin Wang & Weizhen Rao & Yuan Hong, 2020. "A distance matrix based algorithm for solving the traveling salesman problem," Operational Research, Springer, vol. 20(3), pages 1505-1542, September.
    20. Alonso Tabares, Diego & Mora-Camino, Felix & Drouin, Antoine, 2021. "A multi-time scale management structure for airport ground handling automation," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:aqjoor:v:23:y:2025:i:2:d:10.1007_s10288-024-00573-9. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.