TITLE:
A Review of Research on the Transportation Problem
AUTHORS:
Nanlan Zhang, Fanrong Xie
KEYWORDS:
Transportation Problem, Tabular Method, Dual Simplex Method, Supply Chain Management, Linear Programming Problem
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Applied Sciences,
Vol.15 No.5,
May
15,
2025
ABSTRACT: With the rapid development of global economic integration and digital technology, the transportation system, as a core component of the supply chain, has become a key factor influencing the national economy in terms of its efficiency and sustainability. A comprehensive review of transportation problems is provided in this paper, which clarifies the definition and mathematical model of transportation problems as a special class of linear programming problems, elaborates on its main solution methods, including the tabular method (such as the northwest corner rule, minimum cost method, and vogel’s approximation method for determining initial basic feasible solutions, as well as the closed loop method and potential method for improving initial solutions) and the dual simplex method. In this paper, the extensive applications in multiple domains for transportation problems are explored, and current research hotspots and future development trends are analyzed, so as to provide a holistic reference for research and practice in related fields.