A heuristic approach to the three-dimensional cargo-loading problem

Since no exact analytical method for solving the three-dimensional cargo-loading problem has been developed, the heuristic approaches with practical assumptions are still useful. A dynamic programming approach to this problem is proposed in this paper. Loading a three-dimensional cargo space is done layer by layer, a special property which is taken advantage of in the proposed algorithm. The computational performance of this heuristic is demonstrated by comparing its results with suggested values published by the General Services Administration, Washington, DC.