01 · Overview
The Problem with
Scheduling Equipment Separately
When equipment lives in a spreadsheet next to your dock schedule — or worse, in someone's head — conflicts are invisible until the moment they cost you. A forklift double-booked across two docks. A clamp truck in maintenance that two schedulers assumed was available. These aren't edge cases. They're daily friction that adds up to real lost time.
No Separate System
Equipment reservations live inside the appointment itself. When a scheduler books a dock window that needs a clamp truck, they add the equipment reservation in the same step — not in a separate tool they have to remember to check.
Conflicts Caught at Booking
Capacity limits are enforced the moment a reservation is made. If you have three forklifts and three are already reserved in a window, Yardo flags it before the scheduler confirms — not after the shift starts.
Maintenance Blocks Capacity
When a piece of equipment is scheduled for maintenance, that time window is automatically blocked in the availability calendar. Schedulers never inadvertently book against equipment that isn't there.
Who This Is For
Facilities that run shared equipment — forklifts, clamp trucks, pallet jacks, reach stackers — across multiple dock appointments per day. If your dock team has ever had to turn a truck away or delay unloading because the equipment wasn't available, this module solves that.
02 · Setup
Equipment Categories —
Define What You Have
Before equipment can be reserved, you define the categories your facility operates. A category is a type of equipment with a total count available. Reservations draw from the pool, and Yardo tracks how many units are committed at any point in time.
Name & Description
Give the category a name your team already uses — “Sit-Down Forklift”, “Clamp Truck”, “Electric Pallet Jack”. Add a description so schedulers know exactly what they're reserving.
Total Capacity
Set how many units of this category are available at this location. This is the ceiling Yardo enforces — reservations cannot exceed it unless your overbooking rule allows them to.
Enforced
Per-Location Configuration
Equipment categories are configured per facility location. Your Chicago DC may have 6 forklifts. Your Memphis cross-dock has 2. Each location has its own independent capacity pool.
Enable or Disable Per Category
Temporarily disable a category without deleting it — useful when all equipment of that type is out for extended maintenance or has been decommissioned for the season.
Linked to Specific Assets
Optionally attach physical assets — individual forklifts with serial numbers — to a category. Schedulers can then reserve a specific unit rather than just drawing from the pool count.
Optional
Available
At Limit
Conflict
03 · Scheduling
Reservations —
Equipment Tied to the Appointment
Equipment reservations are not a separate request form. They are created directly on the appointment — by the scheduler, at booking time. The equipment need travels with the appointment through the entire lifecycle, visible to everyone who touches that dock event.
Add Equipment at Booking
When creating or editing an appointment, schedulers add an equipment reservation by selecting the category and quantity needed. The window checks available capacity instantly and responds before the booking is saved.
Multiple Categories Per Appointment
An appointment can reserve across multiple categories simultaneously. A large inbound container might need 2 forklifts and 1 clamp truck — both reservations are recorded on the same appointment record.
Quantity Control
Specify how many units of each category are needed. Need 1 forklift for a standard inbound? Or 3 for a bulk container offload? The reservation captures the exact quantity against the pool.
Counted
Real-Time Availability Check
As the scheduler selects a quantity, the UI shows how many units are still free in that window. If capacity is tight, they know before saving — giving them the option to adjust timing or coordinate with the dock team.
Instant
Reservations Follow Appointment Changes
When an appointment is rescheduled, the equipment reservation moves with it. Capacity is released from the original window and re-committed to the new one — automatically, without any manual update to an equipment log.
Visible Across the Operation
Equipment reservations are visible on the appointment detail, the equipment schedule view, and the utilization reports. Any team member can see what's committed and what's free at any point in the day.
Sit-Down Forklift
4 available in window · 6 total
Clamp Truck
0 available in window · 3 total
⚠ Overbooking Warning
Clamp Truck is at capacity for 14:00–15:00. Booking will proceed with warning. Coordinate with dock team before confirming.
Key Principle
Equipment reservations don't block scheduling — they surface information at the right moment so schedulers can make an informed decision, not an accidental one.
04 · Scheduling
Overbooking Rules —
Your Facility, Your Call
Not every facility wants a hard block when capacity is reached. Some operations can flex. Some can't. Yardo gives you three distinct overbooking behaviours — configurable per equipment category — so the system enforces the level of control that matches your actual operation.
Warn & Allow
When a reservation would exceed capacity, the scheduler sees a clear warning — but can proceed and save the booking anyway. Useful when equipment can sometimes be sourced from another location or shift, and the scheduler needs to make a judgement call rather than being blocked outright.
Best for flexible opsHard Block
When capacity is reached, the reservation cannot be saved. The scheduler must either reduce the quantity, choose a different time window, or remove the equipment requirement entirely. Enforces strict resource discipline with no exceptions — ideal for specialised equipment where improvisation isn't an option.
Best for critical equipmentSilent Allow
Overbooking is permitted without any warning or friction. The reservation is recorded regardless of the capacity count. Useful for equipment categories that are abundant, easily supplemented, or where the count is tracked informally rather than enforced operationally.
Best for abundant resourcesPer-Category Configuration
Different equipment categories within the same location can have different overbooking rules. Your forklifts might be hard-blocked. Your pallet jacks run silently. Configure each category to match the real-world consequences of running short on that specific piece of equipment.
05 · Setup
Asset Registry —
From Pool to Specific Unit
Category-level reservations are enough for most facilities. But for operations that need to track exactly which forklift went to which dock — for maintenance scheduling, inspection logs, or insurance purposes — the asset registry lets you name and manage individual units.
Register Individual Assets
Add individual units to a category — Forklift #01, Forklift #02, and so on. Give each one an internal ID, a serial number, or whatever identifier your maintenance team already uses.
Reserve a Specific Unit
When making a reservation, optionally select a specific asset from the registered list rather than drawing from the general pool count. Useful when certain trucks are only compatible with certain dock configurations.
Optional
Asset-Level Availability
Each registered asset has its own availability calendar. If Forklift #03 is in maintenance Tuesday through Thursday, those dates are blocked at the asset level — schedulers can't assign it in that window.
Blocked
Service History Tracking
Every maintenance window logged against an asset builds a service history. Review when an asset was last maintained, how many days it was out of service, and how that impacted capacity in those periods.
FL-01Available
Forklift #01
SN: XH8821 · Last service: 14 days ago
FL-02Available
Forklift #02
SN: XH8822 · Last service: 8 days ago
FL-03In Maint.
Forklift #03
SN: XH8823 · In maintenance until Thu
FL-04Reserved
Forklift #04
SN: XH8824 · Last service: 2 days ago
FL-05Available
Forklift #05
SN: XH8825 · Last service: 21 days ago
FL-06Reserved
Forklift #06
SN: XH8826 · Last service: 5 days ago
06 · Scheduling
Maintenance Windows —
Planned Downtime, Visible to All
Equipment that isn't available shouldn't look available. Maintenance windows are logged directly in Yardo — blocking the relevant assets or reducing category capacity for the duration — so schedulers always see an accurate picture of what's actually usable on any given day.
Create a Maintenance Work Order
Log a maintenance window for a specific asset or an entire category. Set the start and end date, a description of the work, and the technician or vendor responsible.
Capacity Auto-Reduces
While a maintenance window is active, available capacity for the affected category drops automatically. A location with 6 forklifts and 1 in maintenance shows 5 available — without any manual adjustment to the category settings.
Automatic
Schedulers See the Reduced Capacity
The capacity bar and the reservation flow reflect the maintenance-adjusted count. Schedulers booking appointments during the maintenance window see the reduced availability immediately — no checking a separate calendar.
Existing Reservations Are Flagged
If you log maintenance for a window that already has reservations committed, those appointments are flagged for review. You're shown exactly which bookings are affected so you can contact carriers and reschedule proactively.
Alert
Log Completion & Return to Service
When maintenance is complete, mark the work order closed. Capacity returns to its full count immediately. The asset's service history records the dates and duration automatically.
Forklift #03 — Annual Inspection
Mon–Thu · Reduced capacity: 5 of 6
⚠ 3 Appointments Affected
REF-4830, REF-4831, REF-4835 have Forklift reservations during this window. Review and reschedule if needed.
Reach Stacker #01 — Hydraulic Repair
Wed only · Reduced capacity: 1 of 2
Clamp Truck #02 — Routine Service
Completed last Friday
07 · Scheduling
Equipment Schedule View —
See the Full Day at a Glance
The equipment schedule view overlays all reservations across all categories on a timeline — so dock managers can see exactly what's committed, when, and where conflicts or gaps exist across the shift.
Equipment
08:00
10:00
12:00
14:00
16:00
18:00
20:00
22:00
Forklift
6 units
6 units
4 / 6
3 / 6
6 / 6
4 / 5
2 / 5
Clamp Truck
3 units
3 units
2 / 3
3 / 3
3 / 3
1 / 3
Pallet Jack
8 units
8 units
2 / 8
4 / 8
6 / 8
5 / 8
3 / 8
1 / 8
Reach Stacker
2 units · 1 maint.
2 units · 1 maint.
Maint. #01
Maint. #01
1 / 1
Confirmed
Reserved
Maintenance
08 · Reporting
Utilization Analytics —
Data That Justifies Decisions
Gut feel isn't enough when you're deciding whether to lease another forklift, retire an asset, or push back on a carrier asking for unrealistic appointment density. Equipment analytics give you the numbers to make — and defend — those calls.
78%
Avg forklift utilization · This month
Above 85% consistently signals you're running lean. Below 40% suggests overcapacity or underused scheduling.
14
Overbooking conflicts · This month
A rising conflict count means demand is outpacing fleet size or scheduling windows are too dense.
3.2 days
Avg maintenance downtime per asset
Track how long assets are out of service and whether planned maintenance durations are accurate.
62%
Peak hour utilization · 10:00–14:00
Identify when equipment demand peaks so you can distribute appointments more evenly across the shift.
Utilization by Category
See reservation rates for each equipment type over any time period. Filter by week, month, or quarter. Compare categories to understand where your fleet is strained versus underused.
Capacity PlanningPeak Demand Analysis
Identify which hours and days see the highest equipment demand. Use this to adjust appointment scheduling windows — shifting some bookings out of peak hours can significantly reduce conflict frequency.
Scheduling InsightMaintenance Impact Report
See how much capacity was lost to maintenance in any period, and which maintenance windows caused the most booking disruption. Helps schedule preventive maintenance during naturally low-demand windows.
Asset IntelligenceMetric
What It Tells You
Action It Drives
Utilization Rate
Percentage of available capacity that was reserved across a period.
Fleet sizing
Conflict Count
How often demand exceeded capacity and triggered a warning or block.
Procurement
Maintenance Days
Total days per asset spent in maintenance within a period.
Asset lifecycle
Peak Window
Which time windows consistently hit the highest reservation density.
Schedule design
Reservation per Appt
Average equipment units reserved per appointment — rising trend signals load complexity increase.
Dock planning