The Best Yard Management Software of 2021

What Is Yard Management Software?

Yard management software is an administration solution suite designed for the shipping industry. Its primary features deal with scheduling and inventory control, helping you automate the flow of assets in and out of your company. The software also allows you to monitor shipping loads, generate reports, seamlessly go through audits, and meet compliance standards.

These systems provide logistics tools for vessels, trucks, and vehicles. Apart from tackling transportation, they allow you to control your inventory in the yard or port of entry. Introducing this tool into your company’s operation provides the following features:

• Scheduling logistics to prevent delays
• Transportation logistics for managing inventory
• Document management for cargo manifests
• Tracing through barcodes and RFID systems
• Shipping load auditing to meet operation compliance
• Inbound/outbound coordination to ensure each vehicle knows where it’s headed
• Weather reports to keep your workers and vehicles safe and predict delays

Other than tracking the current status of any trailer, driver, or yard activity in real time, you get access to historical data. That way, these suites facilitate trend noticing and business efficiency evaluation.

Finally, this software helps you manage drivers and schedule their appointments. That way, you can empower your employees by giving them access to all the relevant information they need for their tasks through straightforward apps and portals.

Benefits of Yard Management Software

If you’re wondering whether to invest in yard management software, consider all the benefits you’d get from such a program. Notably:

• Visibility: Staying aware of your yard assets and operations facilitates inventory management and ensures effective performance. The tools also let you analyze the performance of each carrier and optimize accordingly.
• Productivity: Modern yard management software automates traditionally manual tasks, such as appointment scheduling and gate-in and gate-out tracking. That way, everything runs more smoothly and with fewer delays.
• Cost-effectiveness: These solutions reduce the costs of your business organization. Your employees will spend less time completing manual tasks, while you won’t have to cover delivery error expenses.
• Compliance: YMS systems ensure every trailer and driver checks in and out consistently and records any damage immediately. Plus, it becomes much easier to relate shipments with trailer numbers for managing errors.
• Safety: Automation means your staff members don’t have to walk around your yard and perform manual checks, promoting their safety. Plus, tracking all vehicles secures your yard against theft and intruders.
• Comprehensive control: If your company owns more than one yard, YMS gives you a view of all your facilities, letting you pool assets and compare effectiveness across locations.

Must-Have Features for Yard Management Software

YMS boosts productivity from the get-go, even if it includes only basic functionalities. However, the following features are a must for a well-rounded, effective system:

• Real-time tracking: By continually updating your data, YMS ensures you’re staying on top of your yard and everything going on inside.
• Inventory management: With YMS, you can track trailers on the go, empty ones in the yard, and the content inside each vehicle you have coming out of the yard.
• Dock management: Besides controlling your trailers, managing equipment ensures a smooth workflow.
• Gate management: Apart from the security purposes of seeing everything entering and exiting your gates, this feature improves scheduling by keeping track of all empty trailers on the lot.
• Seal management: Recording and tracking seal numbers on your trailers let you stay compliant in your business operations.
• Carrier scheduling: YMS works with carriers, setting appointment times for receiving orders and making daily adjustments using the information by tracing shipment status.
• Task management: Daily and weekly task management for each member of your team ensures transparency. As a bonus, you get a more satisfied employee crew.
• Shipment tracking: You can optimize your trailers’ unpacking by making sure they’re arriving at the right dock at the right time.

The Cost of Yard Management Software

As you could see from our list of respected companies, most providers don’t determine their software prices beforehand. Instead, you have to enter relevant information about your business size and operation type first. The business then provides you with a fee for the software. The custom-quote pricing model guarantees each company gets a tailored service that suits their yard.

Another reason for this approach is that yard management software pricing largely depends on the aspects the company wants to manage. The plans could revolve around users, facilities, or vehicles. In these cases, you’d choose according to your company’s size and scope, ensuring you’re not paying for more than you require.

However, note that this software isn’t cheap, and you won’t find a legitimate free version. It provides a massive range of services for big businesses, and the prices reflect that.

Luckily, most providers offer a free trial or a demo version of their solutions before charging you a monthly or annual fee. That way, you get to experience the optimization and see whether it’s worth the cost. For the same reason, we were more reluctant to suggest the three solutions without such services.