Routing vehicles through cross-docking facility for third party logistics service providers

This study focuses on a specialised vehicle routing problem (VRP) to transport matchboxes from manufacturing companies to retailers through a cross-dock (cross-docking facility) operated by a third party logistics service provider. Three processes (unloading, consolidating, and loading) are carried out at a cross-dock for completely avoiding or keeping inventory for a very short time. The specialised VRP, addressed in this paper, consists of...