Abstract Inefficient road transportation causes unnecessary costs and emissions. This problem is even more severe in fresh food transportation, where temperature control is used to guarantee product quality. On a route with multiple stops, the quality of the transported products could be negatively influenced by the door openings and consequent temperature fluctuations. In this study, we quantify the effects of multi-stop transportation on food quality. To realistically model and quantify food quality, we develop a time-and temperature-dependent kinetic model for a vehicle routing problem. The proposed extensions of the vehicle routing problem enable quantification of quality decay on a route. The model is illustrated using a case study of cooperative routing, and our results show that longer, multi-stop routes can negatively influence food quality, especially for products delivered later in the route, and when the products are very temperature-sensitive and the outside temperature is high. Minimising quality loss results in multiple routes with fewer stops per route, whereas minimising costs or emissions results in longer routes. By adjusting driving speed, unloading rate, cooling rate, and by setting a quality threshold level, the negative quality consequences of multi-stop routes can be mitigated.

中文翻译：

---

质量驱动的车辆路径问题：以协同物流为例的模型与应用

摘要 低效的道路运输会导致不必要的成本和排放。这个问题在生鲜食品运输中更为严重，在这种情况下，通过温度控制来保证产品质量。在具有多个站点的路线上，运输产品的质量可能会受到开门和随之而来的温度波动的负面影响。在这项研究中，我们量化了多站运输对食品质量的影响。为了真实地建模和量化食品质量，我们为车辆路径问题开发了一个与时间和温度相关的动力学模型。车辆路线问题的拟议扩展能够量化路线上的质量衰减。该模型使用合作路由的案例研究来说明，我们的结果表明，更长的时间，多站路线会对食品质量产生负面影响，特别是对于路线较晚交付的产品，以及产品对温度非常敏感且外部温度很高时。最大限度地减少质量损失会导致多条路线，每条路线的停靠点更少，而最小化成本或排放会导致路线更长。通过调整行驶速度、卸载速度、冷却速度以及设置质量阈值水平，可以减轻多站路线的负面质量后果。