Solving Multi-modal and Uni-modal Transportation Problems through TIMIPlan

Abstract The goal of this paper is to describe TIMIPlan, an application that solves the multimodal and uni-modal transportation problems of one of the largest Spanish transportation companies. The first problem, related to multi-modal transportation, reflects the combination of at least two modes of transport in a single transport chain, without change of container for the goods. In this paper we describe a hybrid algorithm, combining Linear Programming and Automated Planning, to tackle the multi-modal transportation problem exploiting the benefits of both kinds of techniques. The second problem refers to a common uni-modal transportation problem: the delivering of goods from a central depot to consumers with time windows, and where only the road transport mode is used. This is the well-known Vehicle Routing Transportation Problem with Time Windows (VRTPTW). In this paper we describe an ant colony optimization approach used to solve the VRTPTW.