Abstract. Nowadays genetic algorithms stand as a trend to solve NPcomplete and NP-hard problems. In this paper, we present a new hybrid metaheuristic which uses Parallel Genetic Algorithms and Scatter Search coupled with a decomposition-into-petals procedure for solving a class of Vehicle Routing and Scheduling Problems. The parallel genetic algorithm presented is based on the island model and was run on a cluster of workstations. Its performance is evaluated for a heterogeneous eet problem, which is considered a problem much harder to solve than the homogeneous vehicle routing problem.