The load planning problem of motor carriers: Problem description and a proposed solution approach

The load planning problem of less-than-truckload motor carriers is the determination of how freight should be routed through the network to minimize costs while maintaining service. The principal issues and tradeoffs raised by the load planning problem are reviewed, and a simple optimization formulation is provided. Given the large size of the problem, a local improvement heuristic is proposed and shown to be effective in reducing costs when tested on the network of a large national carrier.