If you are an offsite manufacturer making modules or panels, your general contractor may request that you take your product to a staging yard (or lay-down yard) near the job site. You’ll then arrange for transportation of your products from the factory to the staging yard so it can be unloaded and stored near the job site. Then, when the GC is ready to install some of the units, you’ll need to arrange transportation from staging to the job site. This logistics model is common, but also riddled with risk.
There are some apparent vulnerabilities with this model, the primary one being handling these materials as they get transported, unloaded, stored, loaded, and transported again to the job site.
As an offsite manufacturer, your products are often huge and vulnerable. They often require a crane for loading and unloading onto a truck and into a yard, which increases the chances of damage, especially for products that need strategic storage.
This model not only presents more risk but is also more expensive than a direct delivery model, which avoids the use of a staging yard altogether.
Often, the general contractor will request this model because it’s how things have always been done in traditional construction, where all the raw materials are sent to the job site and built from the ground up. Since the job sites don’t need or have space for all the materials at once, a staging yard becomes necessary…but not for you.
With offsite construction, the staging yard model may not be necessary, and, as a manufacturer, this innovative alternative is worth exploring.
Strategies we put in place, like a Transit Buffer, make the alternative possible. With the transit buffer, even though we pay the driver a bit more to arrive a day early, the cost is still less than the shuttle run would’ve been with the staging yard model.
To illustrate the cost savings, let’s say your factory is 500 miles away from the job site. The transportation cost from the factory to the yard, to the job site will be:
Financial Comparison Example:
Linehaul Trip: A 500 mile run w/transit buffer = $3/mile + $150 (transit buffer) = $1,650
Shuttle: Staging yard to job site ~ $600*
No Staging Yard = No Shuttle Cost = ~ $450 savings per shipment (in this example)
*shuttle mileage rates are more expensive per mile due to hours’ worth of loading/unloading work per shuttle
We put systems in place so the general contractor always has what they need when they need it—without the need for a staging yard, shuttle runs, and their associated risks and costs.
Our transit buffer model also allows us to reduce the chance of damage in transit, loading/unloading, storing, and lifting, which, in turn, reduces those costs and risks to your reputation due to project delays.
It’s common for people to do things as they’ve always been done before without questioning whether better alternatives exist. So, if you haven’t examined your logistics and transportation options and communicated with your contractor to see if there are more efficient and cost-effective ways of moving your High Stakes Freight, we recommend you do so.
As always, we’re here to help you assess your options. Reach out if you’d like to learn how we can help make your next project a success.
Stream Modular is a transportation logistics company specializing exclusively in modular construction. We help modular manufacturers and builders transport mods, pods and panels so they arrive on time and safely to the build site.
Share this Article     | staging staging yards |
