An ILS-biased randomization algorithm for the two-dimensional loading HFVRP with sequential loading and items rotation

This paper discusses the Two‐dimensional Loading Vehicle Routing Problem with Heterogeneous Fleet, Sequential Loading, and Item Rotation (2L‐HFVRP‐SR). Despite the fact that the 2L‐HFVRP‐SR can be found in many real‐life situations related to the transportation of voluminous items, where heterogeneity of fleets, two‐dimensional packing restrictions, sequential loading, and items rotation have to be considered, this rich version of vehicle routing‐and‐packing problem has been rarely analysed in the literature. Accordingly, this paper contributes to filling the gap by presenting a relatively simple‐to‐implement algorithm which is able to provide state‐of‐the‐art solutions for such a complex problem in relatively short computational times. The proposed algorithm integrates inside an Iterated Local Search framework, biased‐randomized versions of both vehicle routing and packing heuristics. The efficiency of the proposed algorithm is validated throughout an extensive set of computational tests.