This paper addresses a Three-Dimensional Loading Capacitated Vehicle Routing Problem(3L-CVRP) which combines a three-dimensional loading problem and vehicle routing problemin distribution logistics. The problem requires the combinatorial optimization of afeasible loading solution and a successive routing of vehicles to satisfy client demands,where all vehicles must start and terminate at a central depot. In spite of its clearpractical significance in the real world of distribution management, 3L-CVRP in literatureis very limited for its high combinatorial complexity. We solve this problem by a hybridapproach which combines Genetic Algorithm and Tabu Search (GATS). Genetic algorithm isdeveloped for vehicle routing and tabu search for three-dimensional loading, while thesetwo algorithms are integrated for the combinatorial problem. We computationally evaluatethis hybrid genetic algorithm on all publicly available test instances, and obtain newbest solutions for several instances.
