Best Practices in Yard Management

Crossdock Loading Ramp

If you are working in an environment where shipping and receiving is the main activity, you know how hectic it can be. When trucks are arriving and departing, and cargo is being actively organized in the yard, the last thing you want to worry about is misplaced product as it can throw off your entire schedule. We’ve compiled some quick tips to help you manage your daily operations.

Plan a Yard or Warehouse Layout

Create a layout of your workspace. This can include which bays or loading ramps that you have which can receive trucks for loading and unloading. The plan should also outline the location of each storage space for storing products. Plan out these areas in blocks and give them labels. When everyone is knowledgeable about the yard plan, you can communicate much easier as a team, and as a result operations become more efficient. If you know that an incoming truck is parked at Bay 3 and to be unloaded into storage area C it can eliminate confusion and misplaced goods.

Use Calendars & Schedules

Plan out the day using calendars and schedules. If you can schedule the day of incoming and outgoing deliveries you can properly manage your workers. We all know that we cannot accurately determine when a truck will arrive or depart, but if you have a schedule to estimate the flow of the work for the day you can identify your capacity and inventory levels and adjust accordingly. This works great with a yard plan when you can communicate, “Truck X will arrive at 1:00pm at Bay 3 to unload into storage area C”. It is clear to all workers when, where, and what is going to be happening. Understanding the plan for the day will help to address the unexpected and plan accordingly.

Use a Handheld Inventory System

Use an electronic inventory system to capture deliveries; this will help your inventory and workflow processes. Equip employees with handheld scanners to inventory goods as they are coming in and out. Part of this categorization will include when the products arrived/departed, what kinds of products they are, and where they are going. If any questions do arise you can refer to your electronic inventory for quick answers.

There are many more ways to optimize your operations and they can vary depending on your tasks. Sit down with your team and discuss the problems and successes of your current operations and work to smooth out the bumps. At Dura-Ramp we provide quality loading-ramps with the goal to help improve operations of any warehouse or yard. For more information about what our ramps can do for you, visit view our portable loading docks or call us at 1-877-820-1333.

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