Optimization of multistage timeliness transit consolidation problem using adaptive-weighted genetic algorithm

Cargo consolidation is becoming a crucial part of international transportation and changing the customer consumption patterns of the international community. Poor connections between different operations and the delay of international express have motivated sellers and logistics organizers to put timeliness first in international multimodal transport, especially during the COVID-19 epidemic. However, for cargo with small quality and multiple batches, designing an efficient consolidation network presents a set of unique challenges, including the coupling of multiple origins and destinations (ODs), and fully utilizing the capacity of the container. We defined a multistage timeliness transit consolidation problem to decouple the multiple ODs of the logistics resource. By solving this problem, we can increase the connectivity between different phases and make full use of the container. To make this systematic multistage transit consolidation more flexible, we proposed a two-stage adaptive-weighted genetic algorithm that mainly focuses on the edge area of the Pareto front space and the diversity of the population. Computational experiments indicate that the correlation between parameters has certain regular trends, and appropriate parameter settings can lead to more satisfactory results. We also confirm that the pandemic has a giant influence on the market share of different transportation modes. Moreover, the comparison with other approaches demonstrates the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed method.