The Minimum Latency Problem (MLP) is a class of routing problems that seeks to minimize the total wait time of all customers across a system of customer nodes that need to be serviced by a set of supply nodes. This research introduces a specific variant called the Multi-Depot Minimum Latency Problem with Inter-Depot Routes (MDMLPI), in which vehicles depart from one central depot in the system and have the option of refilling their supply en route at a number of intermediate depots. A computationally efficient auction-based heuristic to this NP-hard problem is proposed. Preliminary testing demonstrates improvements in customer wait time and fairness when compared to previous best known solutions for similar variants of the Vehicle Routing Problem. This formulation carries valuable implications for the field of disaster relief management, where shorter customer wait times, fairness, and fast computation time are crucial goals. The impact of these results, applications to disaster management, and future research directions are also discussed.

Congratulations to Dr. Lee and Tim!