We could set up a transportation problem and solve it using the
simplex method as with any LP problem (see Using the Simplex
Method to Solve Linear Programming Maximization Problems,
EM 8720, or another of the sources listed on page 35 for information
about the simplex method). However, the special structure of
the transportation problem allows us to solve it with a faster, more
economical algorithm than simplex. Problems of this type, containing
thousands of variables and constraints, can be solved in only a
few seconds on a computer. In fact, we can solve a relatively large
transportation problem by hand