Routing and scheduling of parcel tankers: A novel solution approach

Abstract

For more than half a century, tanker routing and scheduling problems have also attracted extensive interest from researchers. To date, only one existing tanker routing and scheduling model explicitly accounts for the cargo stowage constraints faced by tanker owners. But the originators of the latter model fail to offer efficient solution methodology that can meet the practical needs of industry practitioners. This paper aims to bridge the research gap in the domain of tanker routing and scheduling in two major ways. First, it introduces a novel solution methodology that can (1) efficiently solve tanker routing and scheduling problem with all key operating constraints, and (2) meet the practical needs of industry practitioners. In addition to highlighting the pros and cons of our tool relative to existing tools, this paper also discusses research opportunities that remain available in this field.