The End of Day Yard Close SOP
Purpose
The last person out of the shop is the only security a yard full of stocked trucks has between 6 p.m. and 7 a.m. This procedure guarantees that every night ends the same way, no matter who closes: every truck accounted for, parked so its rear doors cannot be opened, and locked; cylinders caged; nothing charging that is overheating; doors down; cameras recording; gate locked; and the alarm armed with no zone bypassed. Without it, one tech who parks nose-in with the rear doors facing the open lot, or one alarm armed with the back door "bypassed just for tonight," undoes every lock and camera the shop paid for. The wider security picture is in Physical Security for a Shop Full of Tools and Parts.
Scope
Covers the shop building, the yard and every company vehicle parked there at close, on every business day, run by the designated closer. It starts when the closer begins the walk, usually 15 minutes before they intend to leave, and ends when the alarm is armed and the owner has the closed message.
It does not cover: what each tech does with their own truck at the end of their day (stocking, paperwork, the truck's own checklist), which is The End of Day Close SOP; customer keys and codes, which have their own custody procedure; or a break-in discovered at close, which the closer reports to the police and the owner without entering the building. Battery charging setup and its fault response beyond what is below are in The Battery Charging Station SOP.
Roles and responsibilities
| Role | Does | Hands off to |
|---|---|---|
| Tech returning a truck | Parks in the assigned spot per the yard plan, locks it, keys in the key box | Closer, who checks it in step 2 |
| Designated closer (named on the schedule each day) | Steps 1 to 10 | Owner, by the closed message in step 10 |
| Backup closer | Runs the procedure if the closer is out | Same |
| Owner | Takes escalations: a missing truck, a door that will not close, an alarm that will not arm | Alarm company, door company, police |
The closer must hold an alarm code and a gate key, and must be someone allowed to move a company truck.
The yard plan
NORTH FENCE (L1, L2 light poles)
+------------------------------------------------+
| L1 L2 |
| [R T1 >] [R T2 >] [R T3 >] [R T4 >] |
| R = rear doors, held tight to the fence |
| |
G [< T5 R][R T6 >] pair: rear doors meet |
G |
| CAGE (cylinders, locked) |
+------------+-----------OH1---------E2----------+
| SHOP BUILDING |
+-----------------------------------+
G = gate in the west fence, chained and locked
CAMERAS C1 on L2 pole: row T1 to T4
C2 on building: T5, T6 and the cage
C3 on building: gate G, OH1 and door E2
Rear doors are where the stock is, so they face the fence or each other, never open ground. Side doors face the building, inside camera coverage.
Procedure
Account for every truck against the dispatch board. Count the trucks in the yard and add the trucks the board shows still out on a call. Acceptance: yard count plus out-on-call count equals the fleet count, and every truck that is out has a named tech who knows the gate code. Wrong looks like a truck that is neither in the yard nor on a call: call that tech; if there is no answer within 15 minutes, call the owner, and do not finish the close until the owner has the information, because a missing truck at close is a fact the owner has to act on tonight, not tomorrow. Hazard: walk the yard with a flashlight and a high-visibility vest at dusk, and stand clear of any truck that is arriving until it has stopped and the engine is off.
Check each truck's position and locks. Every truck is in its spot on the yard plan: T1 to T4 backed to the north fence, T5 and T6 back to back. Acceptance: on each truck, the rear doors cannot be opened more than a few inches against the fence or the other truck, every door handle has been tried and is locked, windows are up, nothing of value is visible in the cab, and the key is in the key box. Wrong looks like a truck parked nose-in or with a gap behind it: re-park it only if you are allowed to drive it; before backing, walk all the way around it, then back slowly and stop the moment you cannot see what is behind you, because the closer is usually alone with no spotter. A truck you cannot move goes on the log and to the owner. Hazard: do not stand between a backing truck and the fence, and set the parking brake before getting out.
Cage every cylinder that is not riding in a truck overnight. Acetylene, oxygen, nitrogen, and any refrigerant or recovery cylinder the shop does not keep in a truck goes into its own section of the cage, oxygen kept apart from fuel gas. Acceptance: each cylinder is upright, chained, capped where it takes a cap, and the cage is padlocked; the count matches the cylinder log. Wrong looks like a cylinder standing loose in the bay or lying on its side: move it on a cylinder cart, never by rolling it horizontally or lifting it by its cap, and chain it in the cage. A dented, gouged or hissing cylinder is not caged; it goes to The Compressed Gas Cylinder Storage SOP. Hazard: a cylinder that falls can snap its valve and become a projectile, so one hand is on it until the chain is hooked.
Walk the battery charging area. Look at every charger and every battery on it: tool packs, any powered pallet jack or forklift on charge. Acceptance: each charger shows its normal charging or charge-complete indicator, no battery is swollen, smoking, hissing or giving off a sweet or chemical smell, nothing is stacked on or against the chargers, and the area's ventilation is running where lead-acid batteries are charging, because they give off hydrogen. Wrong looks like a lithium pack that is smoking or burning: do not touch it, get out of the room, close the door behind you, and call 911 from outside. A pack that is hot, hissing or swelling but not smoking is not touched either: unplug its charger at the wall if you can without reaching over the pack, call the owner, and follow The Damaged Lithium Battery Handling SOP; do not arm and leave with it unresolved. Hazard: never carry a hot or swelling lithium battery through the building.
Shut down what does not run overnight. Air compressor off at its disconnect, space heaters and the coffee maker off, any portable equipment unplugged. Confirm the rear man door E2 and the aisle to it are clear, since it is an exit route under the emergency action plan. Acceptance: the compressor disconnect is in the off position, no heater is running, and E2 opens and closes freely with nothing stacked against it. Wrong looks like a compressor still cycling: switch it off at the disconnect, not by bleeding the tank. Hazard: keep hands away from the compressor's belt guard and hot discharge line while switching it off.
Close and lock every overhead door. Run each door down from its control station while watching it the whole way. Acceptance: the door is on the floor, and its slide lock or bolt is engaged. Wrong looks like a door that reverses on the way down: something is breaking the photo eye or touching the edge; find and move it, then try again. A door that will not close or lock is not left open: call the owner, and stay until the owner or the door company decides how the building is secured. Hazard: never walk or duck under a moving door, and never hold the button while standing in the door's path.
Check lights and cameras. Exterior lights L1, L2 and the building lights are on (photocell or timer). Open the camera recorder or app. Acceptance: all three camera feeds show live video with tonight's date and a running clock, and each one shows the area the yard plan says it covers. Wrong looks like a black or frozen feed: note which, and text the owner; this does not stop the close, because the alarm and the locks still protect the yard, but the owner decides whether to call the installer tonight. Hazard: none at the recorder; if a camera has to be re-aimed, that is a ladder job for daylight, not for the closer at night.
Lock the gate. Swing gate G shut, chain and lock it. Acceptance: the gate is chained and the lock has been pulled after closing. Wrong looks like a gate that does not latch or a chain that does not reach: do not leave it unlocked; tell the owner. If a truck is still out, its tech locks the gate after returning; note that on the log.
Arm the alarm and confirm it armed. Arm from the panel with your own code. Acceptance: the panel or app shows the system armed with no zones bypassed, and you leave within the exit delay and lock the man door behind you. Wrong looks like the panel refusing to arm with a zone shown open: go to that zone (a door or a window) and close it properly. Do not bypass a door zone to make it arm; if the zone cannot be cleared, call the owner, and bypass only with the owner's okay written on the log with the zone number and the time. Hazard: if anyone is in the yard who should not be, do not confront them; get in your vehicle, lock it, leave, and call the police.
Log the close and send the closed message. Write the log line and text the owner "closed, armed" with the time. Acceptance: the owner has acknowledged the message. Wrong looks like no acknowledgment within 15 minutes: call; the message is also how the owner knows the closer, who was alone in the yard, got out.
The record this produces
The close log, one line per night in the office: date, closer, trucks in the yard and trucks out (by number), cylinder count, chargers checked, doors down, camera feeds live (N of N), gate locked, alarm armed time, any bypass with the owner's okay, and exceptions. The alarm panel's history independently shows which code armed the system and when. The owner's message thread shows the closed time. The owner reads the log weekly; it is the first thing pulled after any break-in, insurance claim or missing tool.
A worked pass: Thursday's close
The dispatcher was the closer. The shop runs six trucks.
Step 1. Five in the yard. The board showed T6 on a no-heat call; the tech had the gate code. Five plus one equals six.
Step 2. T1 to T4 tight to the fence. T5 parked alone, back-to-back position empty because T6 was out. T4's driver-side rear door was unlocked; she locked it and tried every handle again.
Step 3. Four cylinders in the cage, matching the log of four. Cage locked.
Step 4. Two tool packs on charge showing charge complete, one charging. None swollen or warm-looking. Ventilation fan running.
Step 5. Compressor off at the disconnect. E2 clear.
Step 6. OH1 down and bolted on the first try.
Step 7. C1, C2, C3 live with Thursday's date. 3 of 3.
Step 8. Gate chained and locked, with a note that T6 was still out.
Step 9 triggered its open-zone branch. The panel would not arm and showed zone 4, rear door E2, open. She walked back and found E2 resting on its latch but not engaged. A carton of filters someone had set inside the door after step 5 was holding it a fraction off the strike. She moved the carton to the shelf, closed the door until it latched, and the panel armed at 6:22 p.m. with no bypass.
Step 10. "Closed, armed 6:22" sent; owner acknowledged at 6:25.
The log line: 10/15, closer D.R., yard 5 / out 1 (T6), cyl 4, chargers ok, OH1 down, cameras 3 of 3, gate locked (T6 out, tech to relock), armed 6:22, no bypass, exception: T4 rear door unlocked, locked; E2 held open by carton, cleared. T6 returned at 8:15 p.m.; the tech backed it against T5, locked it and relocked the gate.
Read against the procedure: the carton arrived after step 5 had passed, which is why step 9 checks for an open zone rather than trusting the earlier walk.
References
- See related: The End of Day Close SOP; Physical Security for a Shop Full of Tools and Parts; The Battery Charging Station SOP
- See related: The Compressed Gas Cylinder Storage SOP; How to Set Up Key and Code Control for the Shop; How to Write a One-Page Emergency Action Plan