Optimization of Shipping Container Route Choice

This paper studies the optimization of choosing shipping container route by integer programming.Both heavy and empty containers are combined into a system.In the model,the objective function is to maximize the total profit of container transport.The profit caused by the heavy transport minus the cost caused by the heavy and empty container transport equals to the total profit.The constraints to the modal include meeting the need of heavy and empty containers,the limit to transport ability of a line and the number of empty containers supported.Lingo 9.0 is used to solve the model and shipping methods in varied parameters are shown by simulation.The aim of the paper is to provide a reasonable project of shipping container route choice,so the container transportation cost of a shipping company can be reduced and its profit made by container transport is maximized.