A Systematic Literature Review of Vehicle Routing Problems with Time Windows
Xiaobo Liu, Yen‐Lin Chen, Lip Yee Por, Chin Soon Ku
Abstract
Vehicle routing problems with time windows (VRPTW) have gained a lot of attention due to their important role in real-life logistics and transport. As a result of the complexity of real-life situations, most problems are multi-constrained and multi-objective, which increases their difficulty. The aim of this paper is to contribute to the effective solution of VRPTW-related problems. Therefore, research questions and objectives are set in accordance with PRISMA guidelines, and data extraction and analysis of the relevant literature within the last five years (2018–2022) are compared to answer the set research questions. The results show that approximately 86% of the algorithms involved in the literature are approximate methods, with more meta-heuristics than heuristics, and nearly 40% of the literature uses hybrid methods combining two or more algorithms.