Development of Dispatching Strategy for Inbound and Outbound Trucks in Cross Docking System

A cross docking operation involves multiple inbound trucks that deliver items from suppliers to a distribution center and multiple outbound trucks that ship items from the distribution center to customers. Based on customer demands, an inbound truck may have its items transferred to multiple outbound trucks. Similarly, an outbound truck can receive its consignments from multiple inbound trucks. The objective of this study is to find the best truck spotting sequence for both inbound and outbound trucks in order to minimize total operation time of the cross docking system under the condition that multiple visits to the dock by a truck to unload or load its consignments is allowed. The allocations of the items from inbound trucks to outbound trucks are determined simultaneously with the spotting sequences of both the inbound and outbound trucks.