Nowadays genetic algorithms stand as a trend to solve NP-complete and NP-hard problems. In this paper, we present a new hybrid
metaheuristic which combines Genetic Algorithms and Scatter Search coupled with a decomposition-into-petals procedure for
solving a class of Vehicle Routing and Scheduling Problems. Its performance is evaluated for a heterogeneous fleet model,
which is considered a problem much harder to solve than the homogeneous vehicle routing problem.