Optimization of joint scheduling of multiple fleets considering the heterogeneity of operation modes under the port collection and distribution system

In a road transport port collection-distribution system involving container trucks and a drayage fleet, it is necessary to conduct joint scheduling of trucks, tractors, and semi-trailers to achieve coordinated optimization of transport structure and routing simultaneously. This paper proposes a joint scheduling optimization model for multi-fleet combined transport, formulated as a mixed integer programming model. A simulated annealing algorithm based on heuristic rules is designed to solve the proposed problem. The impacts of different transport demands on the total transport cost and the number of workable vehicles under different freight modes are explored. Results show that, compared with the single freight mode, the multi-fleet combined freight mode demonstrates significant advantages in effectively reducing transport costs by 13.3% for tasks uniformly distributed in the freight network. Additionally, by optimizing the allocation of its own vehicle resources, the multi-fleet combined transport mode can mitigate the influence of fixed cost weight coefficient changes and transport demand compactness on the total transport cost.