The New Safety Standard in Yard Operations is Data-driven and People-powered

Safety in yard operations is often described as a matter of awareness and personal responsibility. I agree with that, but I’ve also learned that awareness alone isn’t enough to keep people safe on every shift, in every yard, under every condition. After nearly a decade in trucking and yard operations, I’ve seen that individual instincts must be supported by systems that turn safe behaviors into consistent, repeatable outcomes. That’s how you shift the mindset from “I know what to do” to “We all do it the same safe way, every time.”

Early in my career, I made what I now call a teachable mistake. I was spotting trailers and in a hurry, so I pulled away without disconnecting my air lines. The hoses snapped back right at head height. Nothing was damaged, and thankfully no one was hurt, but I can still picture how close of a call that was.

That moment changed the way I approach every move. I realized that even good drivers are susceptible to error or injury when they’re moving fast or juggling a lot of tasks. Following my near-miss, I started building small safeguards into my routine—simple checks, visual confirmations and short pauses—that kept me from making errors. Over time, those steps became formalized practices I now teach to every new driver I work with.

That’s the transition our whole industry must now make. Safety that depends only on experience or intuition can’t be measured, coached consistently or scaled across a network. Systems thinking changes that. It turns one driver’s hard-earned lesson into a documented process, one close call into a required check, and one near-miss into a data point we can learn from—before it becomes an incident.

Training That Scales

In my current role, I bridge the gap between field experience and enterprise structure. I work hands-on with drivers, but I also help translate what happens in real yards into training standards that apply across shifts, facilities and teams. The goal isn’t just to avoid accidents; it’s to build consistency, because consistency is what keeps people safe when conditions aren’t perfect.

Here’s what that looks like in practice.

New drivers often arrive confident from a commercial driver’s license (CDL) school. That’s a valid feeling, and they should be proud of successfully completing the program and obtaining their license.

But the learning curve in a live yard environment is steep. The yard is not an ideal classroom environment; there are tight spaces, uneven surfaces, moving equipment, weather changes, and a pace that doesn’t slow down just because someone is new. So, our post-CDL training focuses on repetition, observation and measurable skill progression. I tell new drivers all the time: Speed will come, but only after the right habits are formed.

My coaching emphasizes good habits through repetition. For example, when you pull out from under a trailer after dropping it, you don’t just drive off on autopilot. Instead, you must stop, turn around and look. If you do that, you’ll see the spring stretch across your back window. That quick visual check will keep you from pulling your air lines off. It sounds simple, but it’s the Number 1 hostler error I see—people going through the motions instead of staying present.

I teach safety like a routine:

1. Drop the trailer fully and confirm it’s set.
2. Pull forward slowly.
3. Stop and turn around.
4. Look for spring stretch and line position.
5. Only then continue.

When drivers build this process into muscle memory, they prevent a whole chain of possible damage: ripped lines, broken glad hands, downtime and—most importantly—risk of injury.

Another habit I reiterate is to not set unrealistic expectations while you’re learning. If you’re new, don’t compare your speed to someone who’s been doing yard moves for 10 years. I tell trainees: “Your job right now is not to be the fastest. Your job is to be safe and consistent. The speed will show up naturally after the process feels automatic.”

One technique I use to build muscle memory is a monthly self-review. At the start of every month, I encourage drivers to look back and ask, “What do I do better now than I did four weeks ago?”

In this job, improvement doesn’t happen daily or in a constant upward trajectory. You’ll have ups and downs. Some shifts feel smooth, while other shifts feel like you’re learning all over again. That’s normal. But if you measure progress monthly, you can see the trend line moving in the right direction. That kind of encouragement matters, because confidence built on safe repetition is what keeps people steady in real-world conditions.

Consistency Beats Speed

I learned early that consistency is what makes a driver valuable in yard operations. When I was a newer hostler, I wasn’t anywhere near the fastest in the yard. But I stayed engaged. I stayed on the board. When a new move popped up, I was usually the first one to grab it, not because I was racing, but because I was ready and positioned to work safely.

One day, the head of transportation came out into the yard. He said he knew who I was and that he’d been watching me. Not because I was a speed demon, but because I was dependable. I was doing more moves overall by staying consistent and making safe decisions every time. That stuck with me.

I share this story with new drivers because it reinforces that the yard isn’t a sprint. It’s a long shift where small choices stack up. People who try to push beyond their skill level to be fast end up making risky moves at best and hurt themselves or others at worst. Consistency wins out at the end of the day.

Here’s how I frame it:

• Do what you can do safely.
• Repeat a good technique until it’s automatic.
• Let speed be a byproduct, not a goal.

This approach protects equipment, reduces stress and keeps you sharp through the entire shift.

Data as a Coaching Tool

When a near-miss or incident happens, we review it. Vehicle cameras, yard telematics and other data systems give us objective context about what, when and how it happened and under what conditions. I use that information to coach drivers one-on-one and to find patterns that might point to process gaps.

The feedback loop is simple:

1. Review what happened through video and yard data.
2. Discuss what happened with the driver while it’s still fresh in their minds.
3. Identify the specific behaviors or decision points that lead to the near-miss or incident.
4. Connect those to a repeatable, safer alternative.
5. Reinforce practicing those alternative behaviors until they become second nature.

Data doesn’t replace human judgment; it reinforces it. A lot of experienced drivers will tell you they felt something was off before something went wrong. I’ve had those gut check moments, too. The difference now is that data can validate that intuition and help us teach it to others. When instinct and information line up, coaching becomes much more precise.

This is also why reporting near-misses is so important. I want drivers to understand that a near-miss isn’t a reason to hide or feel embarrassed. Rather, it’s a teaching lesson. I’ve seen the same near miss-happen in different yards with different drivers. If you report it, we can turn it into a shared prevention tool instead of waiting for someone to learn a lesson the hard way.

Take air lines again. They’re the Number 1 spotter error I see. So, when someone forgets to disconnect or pulls too far too fast, we don’t just say, “Be more careful.” We go back to the habit: Stop, turn around, and look for spring stretch. We show exactly what the driver would have seen if they’d done the check. It’s concrete. It’s repeatable. It sticks.

Another benefit of turning around is that if you haven’t set that trailer all the way down, you’ll see it. You get a chance to stop before you drop a trailer or put stress on equipment. That one habit prevents multiple risks at once.

Asking for Help

There’s a moment every driver, new or experienced, has where you look at a move and say, “I don’t know if I can do this safely.” Maybe the space is tighter than usual. Maybe the ground is uneven. Maybe the weather’s shifted. Maybe you’re being asked to do something you haven’t seen before.

Here’s what I teach: That moment of doubt or uncertainty is not weakness. It’s awareness. Choosing to do something is the safe move; pretending you’re fine when you are not is the risky move.

When situations like these arise, I tell drivers they have three options:

1. Reach out to a co-worker to spot you,
2. Ask a colleague to make the move while you watch or
3. Talk through the setup before you attempt it.

It takes years of experience to be able to do every single move in every single yard scenario. Being humble enough to ask for help is a key professional skill, and it avoids risk. If you’re not sure, get eyes on it. That’s how we prevent injuries and equipment damage.

Designing Systems That Scale Safety

The broader lesson here goes beyond any one individual or company. As logistics networks get more complex and labor markets tighten, operational excellence and safety excellence are inseparable. Every yard move carries risk:

• uneven surfaces;
• shifting weather;
• constant motion; and
• tight interaction zones between trucks, hostlers, pedestrians, and fixed structures. 

Managing those risks takes both human adaptability and structured control. We need systems that translate good intentions into measurable behaviors.

For me, safe behavior boils down to one move at a time. Every task, from backing a trailer to coupling lines to securing a load lives inside a process that should protect people and create consistency. When we combine strong training with real-time coaching, near-miss learning, and a culture that values steady safe performance, we build yards where safety is the natural way to work, not an extra step.

At the end of the day, the outcome I care about is simple: Every driver goes home in the same or better condition than they arrived. Achieving that isn’t about luck or instinct alone. It’s about building systems that make safe behavior the easiest, most repeatable thing to do, one move at a time.