The parcel hub scheduling problem: A simulation-based solution approach

This research presents an interesting scheduling problem common to freight consolidation terminals. This previously unstudied problem involves scheduling a set of inbound trailers to a fixed number of unload docks. The objective is to schedule the trailers to the unload docks to minimize the time span of the transfer operation. This study focuses on freight consolidation terminals in the parcel delivery industry. A simulation-based scheduling algorithm that uses a genetic algorithm to drive the search for new solutions is proposed. In addition to the introduction and discussion of the parcel hub scheduling problem, the contribution of this research is an approach that serves as the initial effort to solve this practical problem.