Real-Time Dispatch of Petroleum Tank Trucks
描述了一个高度自动化的实时调度系统，利用嵌入式优化程序替代人工操作，为美国雪佛龙公司的全国石油罐车队降低运营成本，适用于大规模车队调度管理。
A highly automated, real-time dispatch system is described which uses embedded optimization routines to replace extensive manual operations and to reduce substantially operating costs for a nation-wide fleet of petroleum tank trucks. The system is currently used in daily operations by the Order Entry and Dispatch segment of the Chevron U.S.A. Marketing System. Refined petroleum products valued at several billion dollars per year are dispatched from more than 80 bulk terminals on a fleet exceeding 300 vehicles in approximately 2600 loads per day. Centralized use of the dispatch system required its design and implementation as a set of transaction modules within a large management information system. This environment presents special challenges for the optimization methods; an heuristic sequential network assignment was developed for certified performance on these dispatch models in lieu of their solution as integer programs. Objectives include minimizing transportation costs (approaching $100 million annually) while maintaining equitable man and equipment workload distribution, safety standards, and customer service, and satisfying equipment compatibility restrictions.