Introduction to transportation problems

Physical goods and supplies are important in many industries, and the movement of goods between locations represents an important problem in industries such as consumer-packaged goods, retail, military, and manufacturing. Supply chain logistics—the science of acquiring, transporting, and storing resources—influences many aspects of business in these industry sectors. Without goods to sell, a company cannot turn a profit. Without materials to manufacture goods, products cannot be made or transported to vendors.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many critical supply chain routes shut down, leaving long waits for goods in many parts of the world or facing higher prices for necessities such as food. Crises such as the Ukraine war can leave entire countries short of food, creating humanitarian crises in other areas. Many supply chain logistics problems can be formulated through the lens of network science, and graph theory offers several...