Vehicle Routing Problem with Delivery Options and Roaming Delivery Locations

This study examines a variation of the Vehicle Routing Problem that incorporates roaming delivery locations and flexible delivery options. In this model, each customer may be served at one of several potential locations, including shared delivery centers that provide centralized access to packages. To simultaneously optimize route planning, delivery location selection, and service timing while accounting for shared center limitations, vehicle capacity, and time windows, a mixed-integer linear programming formulation is proposed. The model is evaluated against a baseline scenario in which each customer has a single fixed delivery point. Computational results from a numerical example demonstrate that enabling roaming and flexible delivery can significantly improve efficiency by reducing vehicle usage, maintaining full customer coverage without increasing waiting times, and cutting total costs by more than ۴۰%. These findings highlight practical strategies for optimizing urban distribution and emphasize the operational advantages of offering delivery choices in last-mile logistics.

Keywords:

Urban Last Mile Logistics , Vehicle Routing Problem , Roaming Delivery Locations , VRP with Delivery Options , Attended Home Delivery , Shared Delivery Locations