Research Article

Optimization of Cold Chain Distribution Route with Mixed Time Window considering Customer Priority

Table 1

Notation for the model.

NotationDefinition

Customer assembly.
Refrigerated truck assembly.
Fuel cost consumed by refrigerated vehicles during distribution
Fixed cost of refrigerated truck c
Customer i cold chain product demand
Unit price of cold chain products transported by refrigerated trucks
Arrival time of refrigerated truck c to customer i
Departure time of refrigerated truck c from the distribution center
Refrigerated truck service hours for customer i
Load of refrigerated truck when traveling from customer i to customer j
Maximum inventory of cold chain distribution center
Maximum load of refrigerated vehicles
Amount of supplies that are out-of-stock in the distribution center in the out-of-stock scenario
Penalty factor for refrigerated vehicles that deliver earlier than the upper limit of the customer’s agreed time window
Penalty coefficient for refrigerated trucks that deliver later than the lower limit of the customer’s agreed time window
The needs of each customer are sorted by customer priority from high to low
Total distance traveled by refrigerated trucks
Total number of vehicles available