New solution approaches for the train load planning problem

The present paper faces the train load planning problem in container terminals. The problem consists of assigning containers to rail wagons while maximizing the total priority of the containers loaded and minimizing the number of rehandles executed in the terminal yard. Two different heuristic approaches, based on an innovative way to compute weight limitations and on two 0/1 integer programming models, are proposed and compared on the basis of specific key performance indicators. The heuristic approaches are compared using random generated instances based on real-world data. An extensive computational analysis has been performed.