Towards a better approach to the Vehicle Routing Problem

Abstract: The Vehicle Routing Problem (VRP) is a fundamental challenge in logistics management research, given its substantial influence on transportation efficiency, cost minimization, and service quality. As a combinatorial optimization problem, VRP plays a crucial role in a wide range of real world applications, particularly in transportation, logistics, and delivery systems, due to its diverse formulations and numerous extensions. Over the years, researchers have introduced various VRP variants to address specific operational constraints, emerging industry requirements and optimize specific objectives, making it one of the most extensively studied problems in operations research. This article provides a comprehensive overview of VRP by exploring its theoretical foundations, discussing the limitations of its classical model, and introducing its key extensions. By systematically reviewing the diverse constraints, objectives, and variants examined in recent literature, this study aims to contribute to a deeper understanding of VRP while highlighting its ongoing evolution and relevance in modern optimization and decision making processes.