In a busy facility yard, with trucks and loads coming and going throughout the day and often into the night, inefficiencies can quickly interrupt smooth traffic flow and gum up the logistical works. This has a negative impact on all parties: It affects production, inventory, and outbound delivery for companies, angering their customers and disrupting tight schedules for carriers and drivers.
For the latter group, delays in the yard mean late deliveries at subsequent stops, affecting those companies as well as their relationships with the carriers. Outdated paper-based manual processes at the gate and dock are often the culprits, pinching yard workflows and leading to documentation errors. In essence, this has ill effects up and down the supply chain.
Fortunately, advances in automation and digital workflows can streamline yard operations, reduce bottlenecks, enable real-time visibility, and improve carrier turnaround. This equates to reduced dwell time, improved throughput, better on-time delivery rates, and optimized yard resource allocation.
The Challenges of Manual Yard Operations
Paper and clipboards have been the predominant method of recordkeeping for yard logistics from the middle of the 20th century onward. Naturally, they’re prone to data entry errors, missing or incomplete paperwork, labor inefficiency, and processing delays that lead to costly backups.
With manual yard workflows, there is no such thing as real-time visibility. Without digital documentation to automate driver check-in/checkout, facilities lose track of drivers and truck movements, causing congestion and missed appointments. This also leads to scheduling conflicts at the docks, causing bottlenecks there.
Facility managers struggle to communicate effectively with drivers. Lacking clear, timely instructions on what they’re supposed to do and where they’re supposed to go, delays are inevitable. There’s also poor coordination among drivers, receiving, and yard personnel, slowing down operations.
In one painful and common scenario, a driver arriving early for his dock assignment checks in manually but loses track of time as he waits. The dock coordinator sees him on the schedule but can’t track him down, resulting in a missed delivery.
A manual yard workflow leads to all kinds of hidden costs. Increased dwell time throws a monkey wrench into gate and dock scheduling, leading to a number of downstream effects:
Higher detention fees from drivers waiting beyond the allotted free time to be loaded / unloaded.
Lost productivity as dockworkers and yard managers waste time adjusting schedules.
Increased fuel costs for fleet owners from idling trucks waiting for dock assignments.
Higher carbon emissions lead to regulatory penalties in some states.
Delayed shipments can cause chargebacks, penalties, or lost business.
Key Components of a Seamless Yard Workflow
More facility managers are realizing that manual processes are no longer sustainable and carry too many liabilities. That’s why they’re implementing smart digital yard workflows that eliminate documentation errors and speed up the logistics flow.
Automated Check-In and Checkout
Digital gate solutions speed up verification and reduce truck idle times. Drivers can quickly scan in at self-service kiosks via their mobile devices. They can then quickly move on to their dock assignments. Throughput is increased, logistics flow is optimized, and less dwell time reduces emissions.
Real-Time Visibility and Tracking
Systems with automated gate check-in/checkout, digital documentation, and driver communication tools can integrate via API with TMS and YMS. This provides real-time visibility into truck movements, dock availability, and load status. Instead of manual data entry or delays in updating arrival/departure status, automated solutions instantly sync truck and load data with the TMS/YMS.
Streamlined Communication
Automated notifications quickly guide arriving drivers through the yard and to their assigned docks, replacing phone calls and time-consuming yard checks. These digital systems also overcome language barriers with universal communication tools, reducing the risk of miscommunication. This improves both operational efficiency and driver satisfaction, helping to make you a facility of choice among carriers and ensure adequate capacity.
Optimized Dock Scheduling
By automating gate check-in/checkout, driver verification, load authentication, and entry/exit logging are optimized, reducing congestion. Digital notifications are sent to the dock office so staff can prepare in advance for incoming loads. This streamlines yard flow, reducing delays and improving dock scheduling and load/unload processing.
Cost Savings and Efficiency Benefits
By automating yard processes with digital solutions, companies can save on man-hours in the yard. They also reduce their exposure to detention fees, ranging from $50 to $100 per hour, through faster gate and dock processing. For private fleets, less dwell time leads to fuel savings.
The risk of chargebacks and over/short/damaged (OS&D) fees are reduced through digital load authentication, matching BOLs, packing lists, and manifests against the actual freight before it reaches the dock.
FreightRoll: Driving Seamless Yard Workflows
FreightRoll is the creator of an innovative, AI-enabled yard execution system that enables digitized workflows, overall process improvement, and performance gains. Our technology allows app-less driver scan-and-go at the gate, e-document sharing to instantly verify loads for drop off and pickup, and a driver communication tool that quickly directs them to their dock and removes language barriers.
Benefits include faster gate verification and digital load authentication; real-time status updates for drivers and facility managers; data-driven insights to optimize dock scheduling and yard efficiency; and customized yard workflows that minimize disruptions and maximize efficiency.
Don’t Stay Stuck in the Manual Yard Workflow Past
Implementing digital yard workflows is no longer a nice-to-have but a must-have capability for facility managers. By replacing manual systems with automated gate, yard, and dock processes, you can reduce delays, improve efficiency, and enhance carrier relationships.
FreightRoll’s AI-enabled yard execution system empowers facilities with real-time visibility, streamlined operations, and cost savings for a truly optimized yard experience that benefits all stakeholders. To learn more, contact FreightRoll today.
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