Cut Check-In Times and Detention Costs Without Adding Capacity
Distribution center leaders know the pattern well. Dock workers wait for trailers. Drivers queue at the gate. Check-ins drag on longer than they should. And despite having a yard management system in place, the yard still feels harder to manage than it ought to be.
When delays stack up, many organizations think capacity is the answer. More gates, staff and assets.
Sometimes that helps. More often, it simply increases cost without addressing the root cause.
One global consumer goods company broke through with a different approach. They simply replaced manual processes with a modern yard management system. Instead of unverifiable gate records, the new system produced accurate arrival and departure timestamps.
Detention invoices dropped 90%, saving $2 million a year.
Beyond that, yard operations management drastically cut trailer hunt time and check-in delays. The improvements came from visibility and execution, not adding labor or expanding the yard.
Manual Yard Management Breaks Down at Scale
In many operations, yard management solutions exist in name but not in practice. Yard activities still depend on radios, clipboards, spreadsheets and tribal knowledge. That reliance on manual processes or legacy systems introduces delays, increases human error and limits visibility when speed and coordination matter most.
On top of that, dock scheduling often operates in isolation from what actually happens in the yard.
Trailers arrive before dock doors are available. Other trailers sit idle while doors go unused. Yard drivers spend valuable time searching for equipment instead of supporting loading and unloading. Dwell time grows, detention fees follow and asset utilization quietly suffers.
The right yard management software changes that dynamic. Modern systems connect yard activities, dock doors and gate operations into a single operational view. Teams use real-time insights into trailer location and dock availability to streamline operations.
Instead of reacting to problems after they occur, moves become intentional. Yard flow improves. Operational efficiency follows.
When a yard management system provides continuous visibility, managers can orchestrate an optimal yard, not manage chaos. They can prioritize tasks based on live conditions. They find exceptions quickly. And they can drive continuous improvement by basing decisions in data, not guesswork.
This is where a modern yard management system delivers its real value. It does not simply track assets. It reduces dwell time, lowers detention fees, improves asset utilization and enhances visibility across every part of the yard.
The result is a yard that supports throughput instead of constraining it.
What Happens When the Yard Finally Has Visibility
At the global consumer goods company, detention fees had become routine. Carriers submitted invoices based on arrival and departure claims the company could not verify. Gate records were incomplete. Disputes dragged on. Costs accumulated quietly.
The company implemented a yard management system that captured accurate, defensible arrival and departure timestamps at the gate. That data became the single source of truth for yard activity.
The impact was decisive. Detention invoices dropped by 90% as carriers stopped submitting unverified claims. Dispute resolution accelerated with far less back-and-forth. Annual savings exceeded $2 million.
That was not an isolated result. A high-volume distribution center faced a different, but also costly, yard challenge.
Yard operations had become a daily source of friction. Drivers waited at the gate. Dock workers waited on trailers. Yard drivers hunted for equipment that should have been easy to find.
The operation had capacity, but it lacked coordination.
By replacing manual processes with the right fit yard management system, the facility created a single, real-time view of yard activities.
Trailer locations became visible. Dock doors aligned with actual arrivals. Yard operations cut check-in delays and trailer hunt time by 50%.
No additional gates, labor or yard expansion. Visibility and execution did the work that capacity never could.
In both cases, the lesson was the same. When yard activities are visible and recorded in real time, execution improves. Delays fall. Detention fees shrink. Asset utilization rises.
Why Detention Fees Are Often a Data Problem, Not a Carrier Problem
Detention fees are often treated as a carrier issue. Carriers arrive late, submit questionable invoices and push back during disputes.
But in many yards, the real problem sits closer to home.
Without a yard management system that captures accurate arrival, departure and dwell time data, detention disputes become subjective. Gate records rely on manual inputs. Timestamps vary by system or by person. Yard activities lack a single source of truth.
In that environment, detention invoices are hard to challenge. Even when a carrier is wrong, operations teams lack defensible data to prove it. As a result, many companies simply pay the invoice and move on. Over time, those costs compound.
A modern yard management system changes the equation by recording yard events automatically and consistently. The system captures arrival and departure timestamps in real time. Instead of estimating dwell times, it measures them. It documents yard activities when they happen.
That data does more than support disputes. It changes behavior. When carriers know that gate activity and dwell time are visible and verifiable, unsubstantiated detention claims decline.
Yard teams gain leverage, not conflict. Disputes resolve faster with fewer emails and fewer phone calls.
Just as important, the data reveals previously invisible patterns. Chronic bottlenecks. Congested dock doors. Yard activities that consistently delay loading and unloading.
With real-time insights, managers can address the causes of detention instead of paying for the symptoms.
In that way, a yard management system improves operational efficiency twice. It reduces detention fees directly. And it enables continuous improvement by exposing where bottlenecks actually originate.
Choosing the Right Yard Management System Comes Down to Fit
Not every yard management system delivers these results. The difference is rarely about features alone. It comes down to fit.
The right yard management system must integrate cleanly with existing operations. The system must deliver real-time insights that operations teams actually use. It must reduce manual processes instead of layering technology on top of them. And it must improve operational efficiency without requiring heavy infrastructure, long deployments or IT complexity.
Equally important, the system must match how the yard operates in the real world. Different facilities face different constraints. High-volume distribution centers, food and beverage operations and consumer goods manufacturers do not all need the same approach. A yard management system that works well in one environment may underperform in another.
That is why Tompkins Ventures focuses on fit rather than features. Our ecosystem has decades of experience across distribution, transportation and yard operations. We help companies evaluate their specific challenges and match them with proven yard management solutions that deliver measurable results.
Yard delays and detention costs often persist because the root causes are hard to see. Tompkins Ventures brings decades of operational experience. We evaluate yard operations and match distribution leaders with yard management systems that fit how their yards actually operate.
Reach out to Tompkins Ventures to start the conversation. Because your company’s yard management system should be more than software. It should be a control layer for yard performance.
Related Reading
- Trailer Tracking Can Yield an 800% ROI – Really!
- Why Advanced Entrance Control Matters for Modern Businesses
- 3 Revolutionary Ways to Gain Business Insights
Tompkins Ventures matches your enterprise’s challenges with our network of 1000s of Commercial Partners, Capital Partners and Consulting Partners. Our toolbox is unlimited, as every Tompkins Ventures Partner has decades of experience helping companies address the five major factors for business success: Leadership, Capital, Technology, Supply Chain/Facilities and Procurement. In today’s business environment of continual disruption, even the best companies do not do everything great. Your core competency is your business. Our core competency is selecting the right Partner(s) to work with your executive teams to make good companies great. Business strategy and supply chain expert Dr. James A. Tompkins founded Tompkins Ventures in 2020. Our network is based in the U.S. but operates on all continents except Antarctica.