During winter and in heavy snowy weather, driving on the roads becomes problematic for vehicles.

One solution to make travel easier is to grit the roads when temperatures start dropping dramatically to avoid major incidents. The Gloucestershire (United Kingdom) Local Authority is now planning the grit supply for next year. It has three major storage points (depots 1, 2, and 3)

and four major centers to supply (Gloucester, Cheltenham, Stow-on-the-World, and Moreton-in-

Marsh).

However, there is a problem because not every depot can hold all of the supply required by each, and transportation costs vary considerably from one depot to another.

These different transportation costs are included in the table below.

Stow Moreton Cheltenham Gloucester Depot 1 8 6 10 4 Depot 2 9 10 13 7 Depot 3 8 9 9 5 Depot 1 can only supply 35 units, depot 2 a total of 50, and depot 3 holds up to 40 units.

Demand varies as well, and Stow-of-the-World only needs 45 units; Moreton-in-Marsh, 20;

while both Cheltenham and Gloucester need 30 units each.

You know that this problem can be solved by modeling it as a transportation problem and using software (e.g., Excel Solver or an equivalent software) to find a perfect allocation.

What is the cost that represents the optimal solution? LO.1