Warehouses can experience many different challenges in peak times. If you want to get the most efficiency out of your warehouse, the role of the yard jockey is an important one. Having efficient yard jockeys is one of the best ways to improve efficiency and reduce costs in your warehouse. Delays in the yard will no longer be an issue that could put immense stress on warehouse workers during peak times and affect the efficiency of your pickers.
Peak time warehouse issues
When products are delayed in a yard and inventory is low, pickers in warehouses may have problems resulting in lowered productivity and increased expenses. Fluctuations in demand can cause serious issues for warehouse managers and overtime hours can be costly. Rearranging products to match changes in demand can help to minimize the negative impact in peak times. For example, arranging items with high demand at the front of the picking aisle and at the correct height is helpful.
What is a yard jockey?
A yard jockey moves trailers between parking spaces and docks in the yard. As a driver that operates a terminal tractor, the role may include helping to inspect containers, manage equipment and facilitate safe and smooth maneuvering of trailers.
As a vital link between the yard and the warehouse, tasks are typically given to them verbally over radio. The workflow is manual, labor intensive, full of double-checking and guesswork which can lead to errors. Yard jockeys may move close to a hundred trailers in a shift.
Yard jockey metrics
How can yard jockey metrics help? A modern yard management system provides useful reports and analytics that can lead to optimization of processes and the best use of yard and warehouse resources. Helpful yard jockey metrics may include the percentage and number of tasks by type, average time spent on a task and average number of tasks per driver.
Flexibility
Yard jockeys have to be flexible because things change on a daily basis. They may need to move a trailer, inspect equipment, communicate with dispatch, log all trailer moves and occasionally they may have to deliver locally.
Costs
When it comes to wages for yard jockeys, it is essential to know the percentage of time the person is idle, traveling for a trailer move, searching for a trailer and unhooking or hooking it.
One of the biggest essential savings a company can make is yard jockey efficiency. Yard management systems can improve idle time and search time for yard jockeys by having accurate tracking systems and queuing up work to present to the jockey.
Contact us
Have you been looking for a way to improve the movement of trailers and trucks through your yard? Managing trailers in a yard can present problems and if you want smooth operations, it requires attention to all the details. EGA Logistics is a third-party logistics provider that offers yard jockey services. Contact us at +1 (888) 496-1102 if you have any questions or would like to receive a quote.
