Yard truck

A yard truck is a short-haul tractor that moves trailers and containers around a terminal, depot or distribution centre — also called a terminal tractor, yard goat, yard hostler or shunter; its driver is a yard jockey or spotter. California's air board defines it as an off-road vehicle that carries containers with or without a chassis.

Which rules apply

In the US, OSHA has said that a yard tractor not designed to Department of Transportation specifications for over-the-road use is a powered industrial truck, and that the vehicle's design, rather than where it is used, decides. Its operators then need training and an evaluation at least once every three years. Highway rules still matter: federal motor carrier regulations define a highway as any road, on public or private property, open to public travel. In the UK, the HSE lists reversing vehicles and trailer coupling and uncoupling among the main transport hazards in ports.

Worked example: one port's fleet

695 diesel tractors at 1,671 hours each is about 1.16 million engine-hours a year at one port. In January 2021 FMCSA proposed guidance that a driver's time on 'yard moves' be recorded as on duty, not driving; in the UK, the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 apply to port vehicles. Yard tractors of all fuels — 887 of them — made up 45% of the 1,985 pieces of cargo-handling equipment the inventory counted.

The mistake people make

Assuming nothing applies inside the fence. A private yard open to public travel counts as a highway under the federal definition, and a tractor not built for the road falls under OSHA's powered industrial truck standard either way — so the jockey needs training, evaluation and the right licence for where the truck actually runs.