‘Last-yard’ problem – the software challenge of the ‘last yard’

“Last mile” in logistics is a well-known term for the final stage of a journey from the sender to the receiver’s doorstep. But that is not where the process truly ends. What happens next is just as important.

Consider the following situations:

• When a shipment arrives at an office building, it is recorded as delivered in the carrier's database. The right person must still receive it, though.
• After being checked in at the warehouse yard, a truck still needs to be assigned to the appropriate dock.
• Although an EV charger is available online, the car still needs to finish charging.

These small, final parts of the process are the “last yard.” They begin after the major milestone has been reached and end only when the outcome is complete in context.

When “Delivered” is not the end

Take the first scenario: a shipment reaches a large office building. From the carrier’s perspective, the job is complete, and the tracking status changes to delivered. Inside the building, however, the process is just beginning.

In enterprise environments, deliveries usually pass through reception desks, shared mailrooms, internal logistics teams, or security checkpoints. Packages are sorted, stored, moved between floors, and collected at different times. Without structured support, this stage quickly becomes manual:

• staff write down tracking numbers,
• recipients call the reception to ask whether something has arrived,
• items are misplaced between handoffs.

In large campuses, this translates into hours of internal searching and repeated delivery attempts. In regulated industries, this can even raise compliance questions about the chain of custody.

Most carrier systems are designed to confirm arrival at an address, not to manage what happens next. So, additional software is needed to extend the delivery process with an internal workflow: digital proof-of-delivery signatures, real-time recipient notifications, audit trails from arrival to pickup, and automated logging at every internal scan. Only this way, the last yard becomes measurable.

When “Checked in” is not yet processed

The same pattern appears outside the warehouse.

A truck arrives at the yard and is checked in at the gate. From a reporting perspective, the arrival is recorded, and the system shows the vehicle is on site. Operationally, however, several steps still need to happen: the trailer must be assigned to a dock, and the unloading sequence must be coordinated with other arrivals.

In smaller operations, this coordination often occurs via phone calls, whiteboards, or radio. As volume increases, that is no longer possible – tracks cannot wait, blocking internal routes, and loading teams need to know arrival priorities.

Complex software extends visibility beyond the gate. Instead of treating check-in as the endpoint, the system continues tracking the asset within the yard:

• real-time trailer location through GPS or RFID,
• automated dock assignment based on availability and priority,
• queue management to reduce idle time,
• integration with warehouse schedules.

When electrified fleets are introduced, the complexity increases. Electric trucks may need access to charging bays while waiting, the state of charge becomes another scheduling variable, and grid capacity limits influence which vehicle can charge first.

The last yard here is the short distance between the gate and the dock. Software turns that distance from an operational blind spot into a controlled process.

When “Available” is not yet ready

The third example might be less visible, but it is just as common.

When an EV charger is online and available in the system, the vehicle can arrive and get connected. From an infrastructure perspective, everything is in place. For the user, the process is not complete until energy has been transferred and the vehicle is ready for its next task.

Charging is not a simple plug-and-wait action but a coordinated process across several systems: the charger hardware, the charging management backend, the vehicle’s battery management system, and authentication and billing services. Each step must be executed in the correct sequence. The session must be authorised, communication established, power delivery controlled, and the charging cycle must finish successfully.

As electrified fleets scale, this final stage becomes operationally critical. A vehicle that is “connected” is not necessarily ready. An “online” charger does not guarantee that the energy required for the next shift has been delivered. In fleet environments, that can mean a delayed departure or a missed delivery window.

Software addresses this by extending visibility from charger status to session completion and energy state. Instead of treating availability as the endpoint, the system monitors:

• authentication and session status,
• real-time power delivery,
• battery state of charge,
• expected completion times,
• load balancing across multiple vehicles.

The last yard in charging is the short but critical stage between connection and confirmed readiness. Here, too, software transforms an assumed outcome into a measurable one.

What the last yard forces you to admit

The last yard reveals that software might be designed more for milestones than for outcomes. Delivered.
Checked in.
Online. These are system events that are easy to track and measure.

But they are not the same as:

• received by the right person,
• unloaded at the correct dock,
• charged to the required state of readiness.

The gap between those two levels is usually handled by people, memory, and informal coordination. And that works until the scale increases.

As volumes grow and electrification introduces new constraints, the last yard becomes the point at which operational maturity is tested. If you want to know whether a system is truly robust, look at what happens after it says “complete.” Does the workflow continue?
Is there visibility inside the building?
Inside the yard?
Inside the charging session? Or does the system simply stop tracking?

The last yard is a systems design decision. And in complex environments, it is often the difference between “technically working” and operationally reliable.

FAQ

1. What is the “last yard” in logistics? The “last yard” refers to the final operational stage that occurs after a shipment is marked as delivered or a vehicle is registered as having arrived. Unlike the last mile, which focuses on transportation to an address, the last yard concerns what happens at that address, such as internal handoffs, dock assignments, or final confirmation of readiness.

2. How is the last yard different from the last mile? The last mile describes the journey to the destination. The last yard begins once the destination is reached.

A delivery may arrive at a building, but the right person must still receive it. A truck may enter a yard, but it must still be assigned to a dock. A charger may be online, but the vehicle must still complete charging. The last yard focuses on operational completion rather than geographic arrival.

3. What software solutions support the last yard? Different environments require different systems, but common solutions include:

• Mailroom and internal delivery management software
• Yard Management Systems (YMS)
• Real-time asset tracking (GPS, RFID, BLE)
• Workflow automation and audit trail systems
• Charging session monitoring and energy management platforms

These tools monitor operational completion and provide visibility beyond official milestones.

5. How can you identify a last-yard gap in your system? Signs of a last-yard gap include:

• Processes that rely on phone calls or manual coordination after a milestone is reached
• Lack of visibility into internal dwell time or handoffs
• Inability to confirm operational readiness beyond status updates
• Assumptions that “delivered” or “connected” equals “complete”

If systems stop tracking after the first formal event, the last yard is likely unmanaged.