Scheduling Harbor Pilots

Harbor pilots guide large container, bulk, and other cargo ships through congested harbors and dock them under a variety of conditions: night and day, weekends, and all kinds of weather. Harbor pilots are always in one of three states: work, standby, or off. A schedule must reflect the three states in the desired ratios, must conform to federal regulations with respect to consecutive hours worked, and must be perceived as fair and equitable. We have developed a simple heuristic for harbor pilots that generates fair and equitable schedules and satisfies desired off-duty time.