## Round 1 - Coding ## Problem A vehicle starts at station 0 with a full tank of `capacity` fuel units. Each station `i` has a fuel amount `fuel[i]` available and a `cost[i]` to travel to the next station. Determine the minimum starting station index from which the vehicle can complete a circular tour of all stations. If no solution exists, return -1. ```python def find_start_station( fuel: list[int], cost: list[int], capacity: int ) -> int: pass ``` ## Example ``` fuel = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5] cost = [3, 4, 5, 1, 2] capacity = 10 Output: 3 # Start at station 3: pick up 4, spend 1 -> arrive 4 # Pick up 5, spend 2 -> arrive 0 ... # Tank never drops below 0 throughout the loop ``` ## Follow-ups 1. How does the solution change if the tank cannot exceed `capacity` at any point (true fuel cap)? 2. What if some stations can be skipped but skipping costs a flat penalty? 3. How do you prove that there is at most one valid starting station when the total fuel >= total cost? 4. Extend the problem: the vehicle can refuel at any station proportionally — how does that change your greedy logic?

InterviewDB Experience

Voyage - Simulate a Multi-Stop Journey with Fuel Constraints

phone

Interview Experience

Round 1 - Coding Problem A vehicle starts at station 0 with a full tank of capacity fuel units. Each station i has a fuel amount fuel[i] available and a cost[i] to travel to the next station. Determine the minimum starting station index from which the vehicle can complete a circular tour of all stations. If no solution exists, return -1. Example Follow-ups How does the solution change if the tank cannot exceed capacity at any point (true fuel cap)? What if some stations can be skipped but skippi…

Full Details

🔒

Unlock all Flexport questions

Full insider details, leaked discussions, and candidate experiences.

Get full access — $100 a year, unlimited access

About This Question

This is a candidate experience report from a flexport interview during the phone round.

It covers the following topics: Coding, Greedy, Phone, Onsite .

Topics

Coding Greedy Phone Onsite

Voyage - Simulate a Multi-Stop Journey with Fuel Constraints

Interview Experience

Full Details

About This Question

Topics

More Flexport Interview Questions