VRP - how to enable a truck to unload at a Route Renewal Site and go to its End Depot site empty??

[DavidVidovic]

Hi, I originally placed this question under the Idea Suggestion category, but I am also looking for a solution or workaround if anybody can help?!!

My context:

I have a waste pickup truck that Starts and Ends at Depot "A"...Depot "A" is only a truck depot where the truck is parked - it is not an unloading site. 

I have established a separate Route Renewal site and associated it with the truck - this is the only location where the waste can be unloaded at.

So, I need the truck to leave Depot "A" > pick up waste quantities from the orders > go to the Route Renewal Site to unload > return to Depot "A" empty.

However, the VRP solver always picks up waste (whether or not it has been to the Route Renewal Site) on its way back to Depot "A". As mentioned, I don't want this because waste cannot be unloaded at Depot "A".

ESRI explains this here

From: ArcGIS Desktop Help 9.3 - Solving a vehicle routing problem: 

"For a route that has no renewal visits, its pickup orders (those with nonzero PickupQuantities values in the Orders class) are unloaded at the end depot. For a route that has renewal visits, only the pickup orders after the last renewal visit are unloaded at the end depot."

There is currently no parameter such as [DepotCapacity] for each Depot for a Vehicle Routing Problem. If there was, I could set [DepotCapacity] = 0, to prevent any pickups on the final return to Depot "A".

If anybody has any suggestion or workaround to prevent orders being picked up on the way back to the End Point, please help!! 

[LuisDel_Vigo]

Hi, I have the same problem too, with only  one difference: in my case I have the possibility to unload in two renewals site.

In your case maybe you could establish, if you have only one site renewal as I have understood, the renewal depot as final depot and after add other route calculate separately from your Renewal site to Depot A.

PS: Sorry for my english.

[ShubhadaKshirsagar]

As a workaround, you can create a fake order at the location of the Depot, specify AssignmentRule for this fake order as 'AnchorLast' (value 5).

If the truck's capacity is 1000, specify quantity for this order as 999. Basically, just enough to serve one order in the capacity of the truck.

This way, the order will be served last, the truck will go to renewal site before it comes to the order(which is the same location as the depot), and then disregard the last order for each such route.

Hope this helps.

[LuisDel_Vigo]

Thanks Shubada! My problem is that I have 2 Renewal Sites and I need that the VRP choose one or another depending the route. Then I shouldn't designate one renewal site in each route to the VRP choose the optimal site between both in the several routes. If I create a fake order (renewal site) then I'm forcing that in one route the renewal site is my choice instead of the VRP.