Integration of Social Concerns in Collaborative Logistics and Transportation Networks

Freight transport optimization, long based solely on an economic approach, happen today through the integration of environmental and/or social concerns, in line with the objectives of sustainable development. In the case of Small and Very Small Enterprises, these objectives cannot be reached individually, and these companies have to join their efforts to find collective solutions. Therefore, the Fleet Size and Mix Vehicle Routing Problem (FSMVRP) was adapted to take into account social objectives, and results are compared to Vehicle Routing Problem with homogeneous fleet. An exact mathematical formulation of the extended problem was developed. Computational experiments for the problem formulation are performed using CPLEX and give a solution of a small instance to illustrate the problem. The model is tested on a case study of optimal parcel pickup, from many manufacturers to a common depot in the agri-food sector.