GA-BASED METHOD FOR THE CONTAINER ROUTES PLANNING IN INTERMODAL TRANSPORTATION

In the time-dependent network, the travel time on each arc is a known function of the departure times. The optimal intermodal routes planning to move freight from origin to destination can significantly reduce both the shippers' and customers' costs. The paper treats the shortest path container routing problem, in the time-dependent intermodal network, using a genetic algorithm. The algorithm uses a variable-length chromosome and after what the crossover operator is realized, a correction method is performed in order to eliminate the possible appeared loops in the paths.