Why the Yard Is the Last Major Bottleneck in Logistics Automation

Why the Yard Is the Last Major Bottleneck in Logistics Automation

For the past decade, logistics automation has focused heavily on warehouses. Conveyors, AS/RS, AMRs, and WMS platforms have transformed indoor operations. Yet just outside the dock doors, the yard remains largely manual.

This gap isn’t accidental — it’s structural.

Warehouses Optimized. Yards Ignored.

Most logistics technology stops at the dock. Once a trailer enters the yard, movement depends on:

• Yard jockey availability

• Manual dispatch

• Tribal knowledge

• Radio calls and spreadsheets

Even the most advanced Yard Management Systems (YMS) can see congestion but cannot act on it.

The Cost of Inaction

When trailer movement stalls, the entire operation suffers:

• Dock doors sit idle

• Labor waits for trailers

• Missed SLAs stack up

• Safety risk increases

Every minute a trailer waits is lost throughput.

Why Yards Are Harder to Automate

Yards present challenges warehouses don’t:

• Outdoor environments

• Weather variability

• Mixed traffic (trucks, people, forklifts)

• Legacy layouts

Until recently, autonomy technology wasn’t reliable enough outdoors. That’s changing.

A Structural Opportunity

As labor shortages persist and safety, insurance, and emissions pressures rise, the yard is no longer optional to optimize.

The next major efficiency gains in logistics won’t come from faster picking — they’ll come from controlling trailer movement.

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