An optimization methodology for the consolidation of urban freight boxes

The paper refers to an innovative urban freight distribution scheme. Packages are firstly delivered to urban distribution centers (UDCs) on the border of urban areas. Packages should therefore be delivered from the UDC to receivers within the urban area. Each package is characterized by an address and dimensions. FURBOT boxes are consolidated in the UDC with these packages. Each box is addressed to a temporary unloading bay and it is delivered there by a FURBOT vehicle. A virtual key and the actual address of the box will be communicated to all the receivers, allowing them to collect their packages from the box in a given time window. The paper concerns a methodology for the box consolidation which minimizes the overall distance travelled by receivers, taking into account the box capacity and the maximum walking distance the receivers accept to collect their packages. A fuzzy kmeans clustering algorithm has been adopted.