Core area territory planning for optimizing driver familiarity and route flexibility
First Claim
1. A computer program product comprising at least one computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable program code portions stored therein, the computer-readable program code portions comprising:
- an executable portion configured to select a new driver from a pool of unassigned drivers;
an executable portion configured to identify a plurality of cells, wherein each of the plurality of cells comprises (i) a portion of a service territory and (ii) a group of one or more stops;
an executable portion configured to classify one or more of the plurality of cells as core cells in response to a known service volume for each of the core cells exceeding a minimum service volume;
an executable portion configured to establish one or more core areas, wherein each of the one or more core areas comprises a localized cluster of the one or more core cells;
an executable portion configured to select a new core area from the one or more core areas based upon a known driver visit frequency by the new driver to each of the one or more core areas;
an executable portion configured to assign the new driver to service the new core area after selecting the new core area; and
an executable portion configured to classify the new driver as an assigned driver after assigning the new driver to service the new core area.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Route planning methods for use by a package delivery service provider are disclosed that satisfy a stochastic daily demand while taking advantage of drivers'"'"' route familiarity over time. A model for estimating the value of driver familiarity is disclosed along with both an empirical and a mathematical model for estimating the value of route consistency, along with a Core Area Route Design which involves the concepts of combinatorial optimization, meta-heuristic algorithms, tabu search heuristics, network formulation modeling, and multi-stage graph modeling. In one embodiment, a service territory is divided into unassigned cells associated with a grid segment involving prior driver delivery stops, and a driver from a pool of unassigned drivers is assigned to a route based on examining each driver'"'"'s grid segment visiting frequency limit with respect to a minimum limit so as to optimize driver selection based on of each driver'"'"'s familiarity with the route.
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Citations
18 Claims
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1. A computer program product comprising at least one computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable program code portions stored therein, the computer-readable program code portions comprising:
an executable portion configured to select a new driver from a pool of unassigned drivers; an executable portion configured to identify a plurality of cells, wherein each of the plurality of cells comprises (i) a portion of a service territory and (ii) a group of one or more stops; an executable portion configured to classify one or more of the plurality of cells as core cells in response to a known service volume for each of the core cells exceeding a minimum service volume; an executable portion configured to establish one or more core areas, wherein each of the one or more core areas comprises a localized cluster of the one or more core cells; an executable portion configured to select a new core area from the one or more core areas based upon a known driver visit frequency by the new driver to each of the one or more core areas; an executable portion configured to assign the new driver to service the new core area after selecting the new core area; and an executable portion configured to classify the new driver as an assigned driver after assigning the new driver to service the new core area. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A computer-implemented method comprising:
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selecting, via one or more processors, a new driver from a pool of unassigned drivers; identifying, via the one or more processors, a plurality of cells, wherein each of the plurality of cells comprises (i) a portion of a service territory and (ii) a group of one or more stops; classifying, via the one or more processors, one or more of the plurality of cells as core cells in response to a known service volume for each of the core cells exceeding a minimum service volume; establishing, via the one or more processors, one or more core areas, wherein each of the one or more core areas comprises a localized cluster of the one or more core cells; selecting, via the one or more processors, a new core area from the one or more core areas based upon a known driver visit frequency by the new driver to each of the one or more core areas; assigning, via the one or more processors, the new driver to service the new core area after selecting the new core area; and classifying, via the one or more processors, the new driver as an assigned driver after assigning the new driver to service the new core area. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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Specification