Impact of vehicle tracking on a routing problem with dynamic travel times

This paper evaluates the benefits of data obtained via modern information technologies, such as global positioning systems, when solving a vehicle routing problem with dynamic customer requests and dynamic travel times. It is empirically demonstrated that substantial improvements are achieved over a previously reported model which does not assume the availability of such information. We also analyze how the system handles dynamic perturbations to the travel times that lead to earliness or lateness in the planned schedule.