Yard Spotter Trucks For Sale

About Yard Spotter Trucks

Also known as “yard dogs,” “trailer jockeys,” “terminal tractors,” or “terminal trucks,” yard spotter trucks are designed for the sole purpose of moving freight and equipment around the yard. You’ll typically find yard spotter trucks working in large facilities such as distribution centers, dock yards, railyards, and other shipping terminals, positioning trailers and intermodal containers for loading and unloading.

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Capacity TJ 5000 DOT Yard Spotter Trucks

Characteristics & Examples

Because a yard spotter typically doesn’t leave its terminal, there’s no extended cab or any space for living quarters—in fact, these trucks often have single-seat cabs with much less internal space than a normal tractor’s. Manufacturers use these space savings to keep yard spotters relatively short and to more easily accommodate a fifth wheel hitch on a hydraulic boom to quickly raise or lower trailers, thereby avoiding the need to adjust each trailer’s landing gear to reposition it.

Yard Spotter trucks are designed to produce lots of torque and very little speed, and are built to withstand constant starts and stops. In most cases, yard spotter trucks feature a basic setup with a single, dual-wheel rear axle, but there are models with tandem axles for working with high-capacity trailers. If a yard spotter truck is designed for highway operation, it will come with a title and be certified by the Department of Transportation.

Capacity’s popular TJ 5000 series of yard spotters, for example, is available in both off-highway and on-highway models (denoted by “DOT” in the model name) and can move a gross combined vehicle weight range (GCVWR) up to 81,000 pounds (36,740 kilograms). Capacity refers to the TJ 5000 as the “Original Trailer Jockey,” and equips the truck with a 185-horsepower (138 kilowatts) Cummins QSBT3 6.7-liter turbocharged diesel engine for international use and a 225-HP (168-kW) Cummins QSTB4F engine for domestic customers.

Find The Right Spotter Trucks

You’ll find a wide selection of new and used yard spotter trucks for sale on TruckPaper.com from such manufacturers as Autocar, Capacity, Kalmar, Ottawa, Tico, and others.