Applying constraint programming to driver scheduling in a transport company

Abstract

Driver scheduling is a crucial problem which affects the performance of a freight transport company and its customer satisfaction. The duties of drivers include punctual load delivery, satisfying road transportation rules and warehouse regulations. Therefore, driver scheduling problem is not only a human resource assignment problem but also an optimization task for the whole freight transport system. In order to apply constraint programming approach to a case study: driver scheduling in Phan Long Transport Company, District 11, Ho Chi Minh City, we use constraint programming approach combined with branch-and-bound algorithm to solve two subproblems: i) scheduling with precedence constraints and ii) assignment problem to driver scheduling. Experimental results on the real-world data at Phan Long Company show that the proposed approach brings out not only robust and effective solutions but also the time efficiency in solving process.