Auto Carrier Transporter Loading and Unloading Improvement

Thousands of vehicles are transported every day from one location to another on Auto Carrier Transports. This process can be represented as a Pickup and Delivery Problem. Solving this instance can lead to the savings of thousands of dollars. The intent of this research is to develop an algorithm to solve the Auto Carrier Transport Pickup and Delivery Problem. In doing so, the focus is to limit the total times vehicles are placed on and taken off the carrier, otherwise known as the number of loads. Results show that it is possible to either modify the routing or the position of the vehicles on the carrier to limit the loads. Which process is used depends on the distances the carrier is traveling and how many vehicles are awaiting pickup.