Optimizing Auto-Carrier Loading

Delivering automobiles, vans, and trucks to auto dealerships is a unique problem among the routing and scheduling problem class. A subproblem is that of loading the vehicles onto an auto-carrier (equipment specially designed for this purpose). Allocation of the vehicles to this equipment has typically been done by means of trial and error and heuristic methods. This paper shows how the loading aspect of the delivery problem can be solved using optimizing methods. The approach has the potential of replacing the empirical methods currently used in practice.