Abstract
This paper examines the yard truck scheduling, the yard location assignment for discharging containers, and the quay crane scheduling in container terminals. Taking into account the practical situation, we paid special attention to the loading and discharging precedence relationships between containers in the quay crane operations. A Mixed Integer Program (MIP) model is constructed, and a two-stage heuristic algorithm is proposed. In the first stage an Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) algorithm is employed to generate the yard location assignment for discharging containers. In the second stage, the integration of the yard truck scheduling and the quay crane scheduling is a flexible job shop problem, and an efficient greedy algorithm and a local search algorithm are proposed. Extensive numerical experiments are conducted to test the performance of the proposed algorithms.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bish, E.K. (2003). A multiple-crane-constrained scheduling problem in a container terminal. European Journal of Operational Research, 144(1): 83–107
Bish, E.K., Leong, T.Y., Li, C.L., Ng, J.W.C. & Simchi-Levi, D. (2001). Analysis of a new vehicle scheduling and location problem. Naval Research Logistics, 48(5): 363–385
Cao, J.X., Lee, D.H., Chen, J.H. & Shi, Q.X. (2010). The integrated yard truck and yard crane scheduling problem: Blenders’ decomposition-based methods. Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, 46(3): 344–353
Chen, L., Bostel, N., Dejax, P., Cai, J.C. & Xi, L.F. (2007). A tabu search algorithm for the integrated scheduling problem of container handling systems in a maritime terminal. European Journal of Operational Research, 181(1): 40–58
Dorigo, M. (1992). Optimization, learning and natural algorithms. Dissertation. Politecnico di Milano
Dorigo, M. & Stützle, T. (2004). Ant Colony Optimization. MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass
Gupta, J.N.D. (1988). Two-stage, hybrid flowshop scheduling problem. Journal of the Operational Research Society, 39(4): 359–364
Lee, D.H., Cao, J.X. & Shi, Q.X. (2008). Integrated quay crane and yard truck schedule for inbound containers. In: IEEM: International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Engineering Management, 1–3: 1219–1223, Singapore, December 8–11, 2008
Lee, D.H., Cao, J.X. & Shi, Q.X. (2009a). Synchronization of yard truck scheduling and storage allocation in container terminals. Engineering Optimization, 41(7): 659–672
Lee, D.H., Cao, J.X., Shi, Q.X. & Chen, J.H. (2009b). A heuristic algorithm for yard truck scheduling and storage allocation problems. Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, 45(5): 810–820
Lee, L.H., Chew, E.P., Tan, K.C. & Wang, Y.A. (2010). Vehicle dispatching algorithms for container transshipment hubs. OR Spectrum, 32(3): 663–685
Ng, W.C., Mak, K.L. & Zhang, Y.X. (2007). Scheduling trucks in container terminals using a genetic algorithm. Engineering Optimization, 39(1): 33–47
Nishimura, E., Imai, A. & Papadimitriou, S. (2005). Yard trailer routing at a maritime container terminal. Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, 41(1): 53–76
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
This research was supported by the National Nature Science Foundation of China under grant no. 71102011.
Zhaojie Xue is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Industrial Engineering at Tsinghua University of China. He received his Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering from the University of Harbin Institute of Technology of China in 2008. His research interests include operations research on container terminal, transportations in logistics system and warehouse planning.
Canrong Zhang is an assistant professor in the Graduate School at Shenzhen, Tsinghua University, China. He received his Ph.D. degree from the Department of Industrial Engineering of Tsinghua University of China in 2010. His research interests include logistics system (especially the container terminal) optimization, manufacturing system optimization, and supply chain management.
Lixin Miao is a professor in Tsinghua University of China. He received his Master’s degree in Tongji University of China in 1987. He is now the head of the Division of Logistics and Transportation of the Graduate School at Shenzhen, Tsinghua University, China. His research interests include information technologies in logistics, warehouse planning and system, optimization, port operations, supply chain operations, traffic flow theory, transportation planning, intelligent transportation system and traffic and logistics simulation.
Wei-Hua Lin is currently an associate professor at the Department of Systems and Industrial Engineering of the University of Arizona, U.S. He received the Ph.D. degree in civil engineering from the University of California at Berkeley. He has worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the PATH program of the University of California at Berkeley. His research interests are optimization in intelligent transportation systems, logistics, and transportation network analysis. He is a member of the Intelligent Transportation Systems Committee of Transportation Research Board, National Research Council of the United States.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Xue, Z., Zhang, C., Miao, L. et al. An ant colony algorithm for yard truck scheduling and yard location assignment problems with precedence constraints. J. Syst. Sci. Syst. Eng. 22, 21–37 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11518-013-5210-0
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11518-013-5210-0