On a road to optimal fleet routing algorithms: a gentle introduction to the state-of-the-art

In this chapter, we review the most important routing problems to give a concise and self-contained introduction to these research topics. We start from the Optimal Route Choice problem, then we focus on its extension, the Traveling Salesman Problem, and, finally, we describe the Vehicle Routing Problem, which can be seen as an extension of the Traveling Salesman Problem to the case of a fleet of vehicles. Thanks to such a structure, we can observe and understand how different problems and algorithms are linked, which may help researchers and experts working in the industry understand basic concepts of the fleet routing problems, apply best algorithms in practice, and develop better algorithms.