Explain truck turnaround time with gate-to-gate stage events

Two truck visits each last six hours. One waits four hours for a dock; the other spends four hours unloading. A single turnaround KPI labels both equally slow and gives the warehouse no useful clue about what to change.

Measure the whole visit, then reconstruct the stages that explain it. Use clear event definitions and a common time basis. The result should distinguish queueing, active service and release delay without confusing those intervals with payable detention.

Give each visit a durable identity

A registration number identifies a vehicle, not a unique visit. The same truck may arrive twice in a day, change trailers or carry several shipments. Create a visit identifier and link its vehicle, trailer, booking and shipment references.

Define gate-in and gate-out physically. Does gate-in mean joining the external queue, crossing the gate or completing security admission? Those choices produce different totals. If external waiting matters, record it as a separate event rather than silently changing the boundary.

Store event time, capture time, source and timezone. A backfilled gate-out should not become the current time. Preserve corrections and identify estimated events so the report can exclude or separately display them.

Axestrack advertises gate-to-gate and stage-based turnaround analytics. Those features depend on the event meanings and completeness supplied by the operation. Connected plant logistics

Two six-hour visits with different causes

The following illustrative visits occur on 15 October 2026 in Asia/Kolkata. Intervals are consecutive and do not overlap.

Both totals are six hours. Visit A directs attention to pre-service waiting: appointment feasibility, queue rules, dock readiness or admission dependencies. Visit B directs attention to service work: load presentation, equipment, staffing or a documented interruption.

The final hour in each visit needs its own investigation. It may include paperwork, verification, waiting for an authorised release or physical exit queueing. A label such as “administration” should not assign blame before the evidence is reviewed.

If active service is interrupted, choose whether the interruption is recorded as a substage or included in service elapsed time. Never add both the full service interval and its interruption to the total; that double counts time.

Missing events are a separate data problem

Suppose gate-in is 08:00 and gate-out is 14:00, but service start is missing. Total turnaround remains known at 360 minutes. The waiting and service split is unknown. Do not substitute zero waiting or infer a service start from the first inventory scan without an agreed, validated mapping.

If gate-out is missing at 16:00, report the visit as open with an age of eight hours from the observed gate-in. It is not a completed eight-hour turnaround. An estimated departure may be useful operationally, but must remain distinct from a confirmed event.

GS1 EPCIS provides standard artefacts for visibility-event exchange. Shared syntax still requires agreement on what each partner's observation means. GS1 — EPCIS and CBV artefacts

Cross-system clocks can also be wrong. A service start before gate-in may reflect an incorrect clock, a mistaken visit link or different physical boundaries. Flag the inconsistency rather than taking the absolute difference to make a positive duration.

Build a report that preserves the difficult visits

Use an arrival cohort when asking what happened to trucks that reached the site in a period. Reporting only visits completed that day can omit the longest open visits and make the operation look better. A completion cohort can also be useful, but label it and show the open backlog alongside it.

Segment by operation and load class. Comparing a uniform pallet unload with a complex mixed load without adjustment can confuse workload with performance. Report the distribution, sample size and tail behaviour rather than only the mean. State the percentile method if exact percentiles are used.

Keep operational time separate from contractual time

A contract may exclude early arrival or allow free time before detention becomes chargeable. Keep the raw operational timeline intact and apply the commercial calculation in a linked assessment. Editing gate-in to match the appointment would corrupt turnaround analysis.

Similarly, a service-level measure may exclude an approved interruption. Show raw elapsed time and adjusted time with the exclusion reason. A revised target can help manage the current visit, but historical performance against the original target should remain visible.

A simple event ledger can establish the definitions before an automated dashboard is built. Native yard events reduce manual entry when the checkpoint is reliable. Any sensor or integration needs tests for missed reads, repeated reads and late corrections.

Use the timeline to choose one intervention

Select a recurring long stage, inspect its supporting records and assign a specific trial: a different appointment mix, earlier document readiness or a changed resource schedule. Compare similar visits before and after, retaining exceptions.

The report succeeds when the supervisor can identify which stage needs action and trust the underlying visit. A lower average with more missing gate-outs is not an improvement.

Next actions

1. Define the visit identity and physical boundary of every event.
2. Reconcile stage durations to gate-to-gate time on sample visits.
3. Separate missing events and open visits from completed observations.
4. Choose one recurring delay cause and evaluate a targeted operational change.