Running a yard

This guide follows containers through a container yard: how moves are planned, how the gate takes containers in and out, how they are stacked and moved, and where to see what is in the yard. It is for yard staff, who record moves on phones or tablets, and for the planners and supervisors who follow the yard from a desk.

The running example is an import job with the reference EXBL2610045, for the customer Example Trading Co. Its 40-foot container ABCU1234560 arrives full on truck TRK-0451 at Example Container Yard, is stacked in zone F1, is stripped, and leaves empty a few days later.

The menus you see depend on your role and on how your company has set TrakIT up. The paths in this guide are those of the standard menu; see Navigating TrakIT.

1. The yard set-up in brief

Administrators set up the yard once. What each piece decides:

Piece	Where	What it decides
The yard	Admin > Masters > Warehouses & Yards, type Container Yard	Which companies use it (Company Access), whether the stacking rules apply (Validate Position), and where a container goes when its position is taken (Default Zone).
Its zones	The same page, zones	The areas of the yard, their Zone Type, and whether containers there have stack positions (No Positioning).
The stack positions	The same page, yard positions	The bays, rows and tiers of each zone, and which positions are disabled.
The workflows	Each workflow’s Warehouses & Yards tab	Which work orders the yard’s moves can be linked to, and which events moves fill in (Yard Move Triggers).
Yard data fields and forms	Data Fields, Form Definitions	Extra fields on moves, and the documents generated for moves, by hand or automatically (Auto-Generate).

A yard appears on the Yards pages and in the device app once it has at least one zone, for users of the companies under its Company Access.

The work needs these permissions, in the Yard Moves section unless stated:

Work	Permission
Open the Yards pages and the device app	Read
Save a move as planned on a phone	Plan Moves, and Create or Update
Carry out a move on a phone	Execute Moves, and Create or Update
Work with gate moves, equipment moves or cargo operations	Gate Operations, Equipment Moves, Cargo Operations
Generate yard documents, automatically or with Generate	Create
Link moves to work orders, correct moves, record trucks leaving	Update
Change the time of an executed move; cancel or delete executed moves	Backdate Move; Cancel Move; Delete
Fill in work order fields from a move	Update Events & Data in the Work Orders section
Block containers and correct their type codes	Update in the Container Master List section

See Who can use the device app and Roles and permissions.

2. Open the device app

Yard staff record moves where they happen, with the yard screens of the TrakIT mobile app: Yard Ops in the app’s menu, or Yards > Device App in a browser. The App button of the yard pages opens it too.

The first screen, Yard Operations, shows one yard: choose it at the top if you have several. TrakIT remembers it. The tabs Gate, Equipment and Cargo list the planned moves of that kind, and History the moves already carried out. Select a move to open it, or start a new one with the buttons above the list. Search filters the list by zone, container or job reference, direction, full or empty, move type, and moves linked to a work order.

The move screens work the same way: fill in the move, then select Save to keep it as a planned move, or Execute to record that it has happened. On the gate and cargo screens, the photos you take, or add from your device’s gallery or files, are saved with the move (see Photos on a move). On the Gate In and Cargo Ops screens, the camera icon next to Seal No.(s) scans the seal’s barcode.

3. Plan the moves

A planned move is one that has not happened yet. Planned moves come from:

Bulk create: a work order created with a container number, a load type and a Zone gets a planned gate-in move. The Zone and Position columns are in the template when the workflow shows the Yard Moves tab on its work orders.
The device app: any move saved with Save instead of Execute.

Planners follow them on Yards > Planning. There they export the plan and change the zone, bay and row of many moves at once from Excel, with Import. On the phones, the same moves wait on the Gate, Equipment and Cargo tabs, ready to be carried out.

A container can have only one planned move of each type in a yard: TrakIT says A planned move for this container already exists. Once a day, TrakIT deletes planned moves added more than seven days earlier that are still not carried out.

4. Gate in

When TRK-0451 arrives, the gate clerk opens its planned gate-in on the Gate tab, or selects Truck In. On the Gate In screen:

Choose Full/Empty.
Find the container in Cont./Truck. If TrakIT does not know it yet, select the plus icon and enter its Container Number and Load Type in Add New Container: it is added to the container master.
For a full container, choose the Direction: Import, Export or Other.
Check Work Order Information: see below.
Enter the Seal No.(s), the Zone, the Vehicle and, if useful, the Trailer, Driver, CMR, Reference, Damage, Grade, Dirty, data fields, photos and Remarks. The Vehicle is needed even to save the move as planned.
To put the container straight into a stack, tick Direct In-Stack and choose the position: see step 5.
Select Execute, and confirm.

Work Order Information shows the work order TrakIT has linked to the move: the newest active or abandoned work order for the same container, in a workflow linked to the yard, whose workflow type fits the direction (an Import workflow for an import move). Here it is work order 30101. If you chose the container before the direction, TrakIT fills in the direction from that work order. The box also shows the work order’s header fields, which you can fill in at the gate. The cross removes the link. If no work order matches, the box says No matching Work Order found; you can link one later (see step 9). On some installations, the matching follows rules set up for that installation.

When the gate-in is carried out, TrakIT:

puts the container in the yard, in the zone chosen. Until it is stacked, the yard inventory shows its position as On Truck;
adds the truck to Yard trucks, with its driver and time in;
on the linked work order: fills the event of a yard move trigger for Gate-In of a full container, if the workflow has one; copies the seal number to the work order; and copies the move’s data fields set up to do so;
generates the yard forms set to Auto-Generate for gate-ins, and opens the move’s Files tab to show them;
lists the move on Yard moves and on the work order’s Yard Moves tab.

A full container needs a seal number to be gated in by truck, and a seal number already recorded on another executed move is refused. A container that is already in the yard cannot be gated in again, and a blocked container cannot be chosen.

Trains

For a train, select Rail In/Out on the Gate tab, then Rail In or Rail Out:

Rail In: add the containers one by one, with the plus icon for new ones, or paste a list, one container per line. Set the Direction, Full/Empty, Zone and Wagon once as defaults and select Apply to All, then correct single rows. Each container needs a zone and a wagon, and a full one a direction.
Rail Out: add the containers from the list of containers in the yard, and enter their Wagon.

Execute All gates the whole batch in or out; if one container fails, none is moved. Save All keeps the batch as planned moves. Each container is linked to its matching work order as at the truck gate. Rail moves do not add trucks to Yard trucks.

5. Stack the container

To put a container in a stack, open the Equipment tab and select Add Move, or open its planned move. On the Equipment Move screen:

Choose In-Stack in Move Type, then the Zone, here F1, and the Container. The list offers the containers in the yard.
Under Position, select the bay and row on the drawing of the zone, for example bay 3, row 1. TrakIT puts the container on the lowest free tier of that stack.
Choose the Asset Type and Asset, such as the reach stacker that moved it, if you record them.
Select Execute.

The move is linked to the work order of the container’s last move, so it appears on work order 30101 too. What TrakIT checks:

In a zone with stack positions, an In-Stack move needs a position. In a zone with No Positioning, it needs none. If every tier of the stack you select is taken or disabled, TrakIT says Position is required: select another bay or row.
A disabled position takes no container. With Validate Position, the stacking rules apply, for example a 40-foot container takes two bays.
If the position is taken, the move is refused with Position already occupied, unless the yard has a Default Zone: see what that setting does on Warehouses & yards.

The Layout of the yard inventory then shows the container in its stack.

6. Move containers, and work on them

Equipment moves move containers inside the yard. The Equipment tab offers In-Stack, On-Truck, To Customs, For Repair, To CFS and Reposition.

On-Truck puts a container on a truck, for example to take it to the gate or to another part of the yard. It needs the Vehicle #. It takes the container out of its stack position, and it stays in its zone.
To Customs places the container in a position, like In-Stack.
For Repair records the Damage.

Cargo operations are work on a container and its cargo, on the Cargo tab with Add Move. The Cargo Ops screen offers Inspection, Stuffing, Stripping, Status Change, Weighing, Strip Partial, Stuff Partial, Cleaning and Seal Confirmation. What each one needs and changes:

Move	Needs	Changes
Stripping, Strip Partial	A linked work order. Stripping needs a full container.	Stripping makes the container empty.
Stuffing, Stuff Partial	A linked work order. Stuffing needs an empty container, or one partly stuffed, and a seal number.	The container becomes full. After Stuffing, the seal is copied to the work order.
Inspection	A linked work order.
Status Change	The new Direction.	The container’s direction.
Cleaning	An empty container.
Seal Confirmation	A seal number and at least one photo of the seal.	The seal is copied to the work order.

On a full container, Inspection, Status Change and Weighing also need a seal number.

A cargo operation is linked to the container’s matching work order, as at the gate; a Seal Confirmation keeps the work order of the container’s last move. When the move is carried out, TrakIT fills the event of the linked work order’s yard move trigger for that move type. The move records the container as it is after the work: a stripping move as empty, a stuffing move as full. So set a trigger for Stripping on Empty, and one for Stuffing on Full.

In the example, the container is moved To CFS, stripped, then stacked again in the empties zone with an In-Stack move. Each move is recorded on the work order.

7. Gate out

When ABCU1234560 leaves, the gate clerk selects Truck Out on the Gate tab, or opens its planned gate-out. On the Gate Out screen:

Choose the container in Container/Truck. The list offers the containers in the yard.
Check Full/Empty and Direction: TrakIT takes them from the container’s last move. Choose the Direction only for a full container whose last move had none.
Enter the Vehicle, here TRK-0718, and if useful the Trailer, Driver, CMR, Reference, data fields, photos and Remarks.
Select Execute.

TrakIT carries the damage, grade and dirt status over from the last move, and links the matching work order. An empty container has no direction, so it matches only work orders of Round Trip and Non-Shipment workflows.

When the gate-out is carried out, the container leaves the yard and the inventory. The truck with the same vehicle number is marked as gone out on Yard trucks. As at gate-in, the linked work order gets its trigger event, and the forms set to Auto-Generate for gate-outs are generated. A blocked container cannot be gated out.

8. Follow the yard

Question	Page
What is in the yard now, and where?	Yard inventory (Yards > Inventory): the stacks of each zone on Layout, and on Table View the counts by full and empty, direction and size, with TEU, and each container’s last move.
What came in and went out over a week or a month?	Yard stock (Yards > Stock): opening and closing inventory, dwell times, gate movements, stripping and stuffing, and a reconciliation.
What happened, and when?	Yard moves (Yards > Moves): every executed move, with filters and export. Select a Move ID to open the move, its photos, files and history.
What is coming?	Yard planning (Yards > Planning).
What do we know about a container?	Container master (Yards > Container Master): its type code, grade, whether it is in a yard, and all its moves.
Which trucks are inside?	Yard trucks (Yards > Yard Trucks), with In Yard ticked.
What happened to one work order’s container?	The work order’s Yard Moves tab, and the events filled by yard move triggers.

A truck that brought a container in and leaves without one has no gate-out move of its own. Record its exit on Yard trucks with the gate-out icon: this only updates the truck list. If it takes a container out, the container’s gate-out with the same vehicle number records its exit.

On the container master, a supervisor can block a container, for example one damaged and awaiting survey: the device app then refuses it for gate-ins, gate-outs, rail moves and cargo operations until it is unblocked. Correct a wrong type code there too.

9. Correct mistakes

Situation	What to do
A planned move is wrong	Open it on the phone, change it and select Save. To delete it, use the bin icon of the gate and cargo screens, or delete it on its Yard move page.
An executed move has a wrong detail	On its Yard move page, select the pencil icon. You can correct the direction (unlink the work order first), seal, vehicle, remarks and more, and with Backdate Move, the executed time, by up to 7 days.
A move has no work order, or the wrong one	Link it on Yard moves or the Yard inventory, or many at once with Link WO…. Linking also fills the trigger event and links the container’s later moves inside the yard.
A move should not have happened	Cancel it: unlink its work order first. Only the container’s latest executed move can be cancelled, and TrakIT puts the container back where it was.
Positions are wrong after a yard count	A system administrator places the containers from Excel with Import/Update on the yard inventory. No move is recorded.

Changing the executed time of a move does not change an event that a yard move trigger has already filled: correct the event on the work order if needed.

Messages on the phone

Message	What to do
No Yards Accessible / Found	No container yard with zones is open to your companies. Ask your administrator.
A planned move for this container already exists	Open the planned move on its tab instead of starting a new one.
The selected container is blocked: followed by the reason	Ask a supervisor: see the container master.
Container is already in yard	The container’s last move was not a gate-out. Check its moves on the container master.
Seal Number is required for full containers, Seal Number is required for move, Seal Number is required for non-empty container	Enter or scan the seal number.
Seal Number must be unique	The seal number is already on another executed move. Check the number.
Vehicle Number is required, Truck Number is required	Enter the vehicle number.
Direction is required, Direction must be selected	Choose the direction.
Position selection is required for In-Stack placement, Position is required	Select the bay and row on the zone drawing. If you did, that stack is full: choose another.
Position already occupied	Choose a free position.
Work Order must be linked before execution	Save the move, link its work order on its Yard move page, then execute it. The work order must be for the container, in a workflow linked to the yard.
Cannot select empty container for stripping, Cannot select full container for stuffing	Check the container and the move type.
Container Number is not valid as per ISO Standard	Check the number in Add New Container.

Where to go next

Device app, Yard move and Yard moves: the moves in detail.
Warehouses & yards: the yard, zones and positions.
Warehousing: receiving and issuing items: items in warehouses, which TrakIT keeps apart from containers in yards.