An approximation algorithm for vehicle routing with compatibility constraints

Miao Yu, Viswanath Nagarajan, Siqian Shen

Abstract: We study a multiple-vehicle routing problem with a minimum makespan objective and compatibility constraints. We provide an approximation algorithm and a nearly-matching hardness of approximation result. We also provide computational results on benchmark instances with diverse sizes showing that the proposed algorithm (i) has a good empirical approximation factor, (ii) runs in a short amount of time and (iii) produces solutions comparable to the best feasible solutions found by a direct integer program formulation.