Everyone in logistics knows that having a bird’s eye view of all moving parts in your operation is essential for making efficient, accurate decisions that keep business moving forward. This rings especially true when it comes to distribution center yard management. Dock managers oversee a yard full of trailers and drivers, orchestrating moves to create an efficient flow of goods coming in and out of their warehouse. However, it’s next to impossible to do that job well without the real-time knowledge of where trailers are in the yard.

The inability to see the full extent of yard activity in any given moment can cause serious delays, inefficiencies, and safety issues in your operation. At NSSL, we’re continuing to evolve our YMS technology to help solve these challenges. Our newest feature, Dock Control Centre, is designed to provide dock managers with full access to real-time yard data and unparalleled AI support to drive efficiency and accuracy throughout your yard and supply chain.

Request, Monitor, and Manage Moves from One Screen

Having a single source of truth for trailer location, status, driver status, and equipment location and status allows you to make more accurate and efficient operational moves. The new Dock Control Centre feature in Shuntware® brings all data into one easy-to-use dashboard for dock managers.  

The Dock Control Centre powers operations forward by allowing users to:

• Request, monitor and manage move from one screen
• Filter moves by function
• Push-back and cancel moves with one click
• Update statuses of trailers on move requests

Auto-Generated Trailer Suggestions and Detention Fee Mitigation

Automation is another key component of yard optimization that can shave significant time off of every move. Most yard management systems on the market today require dock managers to manually filter through a list of trailers to find not only the correct type of trailer, but one that’s available. It’s often a challenge just to tell which trailers are empty and full, much less which ones need to move first in order to avoid carrier fees.   

By leveraging AI, all of these tasks become easier than ever. When using Shuntware, the Dock Control Centre provides suggested empty trailers that match your parameters while using FIFO logic to help mitigate detention fees. The parameters of Dock Control Centre can be customized from yard to yard, or even dock to dock, making this the most flexible yard management system available today.

Direct Connection to Drivers

Once a trailer is selected for a move in the Dock Control Centre, it drops directly into the work queue for an available driver in your yard. If a driver cannot complete a move due to issues with the trailer, you’ll be prompted within the Dock Control Centre to choose a new trailer. Having this direct connection with drivers allows you to pivot quickly when something goes wrong and makes your operations as efficient as they can be.

Other New Features: Yard Check and Yard View

Along with the Dock Control Centre, we recently rolled out two additional updates to Shuntware: Yard Check and Yard View. These advanced features allow you to view real-time equipment status and streamlined yard data with dynamic filtering, making Shuntware a comprehensive tool for distribution center management and supply chain performance.

Make Every Move Count

At NSSL, we understand that our customers’ needs are constantly evolving, and we are committed to staying ahead of the curve. That’s why we have invested in the development of Shuntware, a solution that is adaptable, versatile, and customizable to meet our customers’ unique needs. Our team of experts is always working to develop new features and functionality to ensure that our customers can stay ahead of the competition and make every move count.

To find out if Shuntware is the right solution for you, schedule a free demo with one of our experts. We’ll give you an inside look at the Dock Control Centre and other new features that we’re building to optimize yard operations in distribution centers around North America.