Benefits of Shunt Trucks for Moving Trailers

Managing the flow of trailers through staging, loading, and unloading stages is critical to yard operations. Many applications including ports, terminals, rail & road transportation, distribution centres, and warehouses dedicate significant resources to move around the trailers within the yard. Selecting the right equipment for this activity, often known as Shunting, can help you achieve higher productivity and safety in your yard operations.

In this article we will look at what is shunting and how shunt trucks can help you accomplish it more efficiently as compared to the regular trucks.

What is Shunting?

Shunting is an ongoing process of moving trailers around the job site for short distances. A driver, often known as spotter, attaches a trailer to the yard truck and moves it to the designated location. Once parked at its target location, the trailer is released from the truck. The truck is now free to move other trailers.

There are two things that differentiate shunting from other supply chain activities:

1. Yard trucks travel short distances and have frequent starts and stops
2. Operators need to attach and detach trailers multiple times a day

Advantages of using Shunt Trucks, also known as Yard/Terminal tractors, for yard operations

Considering that shunting is a unique activity, there are several reasons to use specialised trucks, known as Shunt trucks, rather than standard tractors. Shunt trucks are a popular piece of equipment and are known by various names including yard tractors, terminal tractors, spotter trucks, yard trucks, yard dogs, and hostlers.

Below are some of the key reasons for you to use Shunt trucks for moving trailers:

1. Increased Shunting Efficiency

The use of shunt trucks or yard tractors can help you significantly boost up your yard productivity. It may take an operator twice or thrice the amount of time to move a trailer with a standard truck as compared to a shunt truck for the following reasons:

• Standard tractors are less maneuverable owing to their long wheelbase and wider turning radius. Shunt trucks feature a shorter wheelbase allowing them to have a tighter turning radius, which is ideal for yard operation. Higher maneuverability not only improves efficiency but also makes shunt trucks less prone to collisions.

• With Shunt trucks, the operator does not need to exit the cab to hook up or release the trailers. They can simply connect, lift, and drive, making the entire process highly efficient and quick. With a standard tractor, the operator needs to set foot on the ground every single time to attach or detach a trailer.

• Shunt trucks offer higher visibility to operators as compared to the standard trucks. Shunt truck features like bigger windows, optimized cabin design ensure higher operator comfort and productivity.

Check out the following video to compare shunting efficiencies between a Terberg shunt truck and a regular truck.

2. Increased Operator Safety

The health and safety of your team is non-negotiable. Shunt trucks can help you increase operator safety and reduce injuries for the following reasons:

• Operators who drive standard tractors for yard operations are at a greater risk of injuries as they need to continuously jump out and jump in to attach/detach the trailers. In addition to the risk of falling, they may also experience elbow, wrist, and shoulder injuries from having to frequently crank landing gear.

Shunt trucks can help you eliminate these injuries as operators can accomplish all the tasks, related to trailer attachment and release, right from the comfort of their cabs.

• As described in point no. 1, use of shunt trucks can significantly reduce the risk of yard accidents and collisions as they offer higher visibility. This adds to the safety of operators as well as of others who are present at the jobsite.

Speak with our equipment specialist to know more about the safety features in a shunt truck.

3.Low Maintenance and Sustainable Fully-electric Shunt Truck Models

Whether you are looking to move trailers in distribution centres, transport depots or container terminals use of electric vehicles can reduce your operational costs and carbon footprint. Leading brands like Terberg offer fully electric yard tractors which offer performance comparable to a diesel powered vehicle. Thanks to the game-changing large battery options and improved battery technology, electric shunt trucks can run for long hours between charges. Read about how you can improve your business operations with Terberg’s Electric Terminal Tractors.

Used Shunt Trucks

If you are looking to reduce upfront investment while adding a shunt truck to your fleet, you can explore used options. While opting for a used shunt truck, it is important to be thorough in your evaluation to avoid expensive repairs and safety issues in future. You need to check for the right things and find a balance between price and condition before making the purchase.

Compared to traditional road trucks, shunt trucks offer better performance, safety, and savings for your yard operations. Based on your needs, you can choose from the many diesel and electric models offered by leading brands.

Have more questions about shunt trucks? Our equipment specialists are ready to help you.