Regional Yard Manager

ABOUT WESTERN STATES

Since 1956, Western States Equipment Company has been a leading employer across Idaho, Oregon, Washington, Montana, and Wyoming. We are driven by our mission of solving our customers toughest challenges, guided by our core values of Safety, Excellence, Teamwork, Integrity, Accountability, and Innovation .

By joining Western States, you commit to upholding these values while contributing to our purpose of building our communities for a better tomorrow. Safety and our Customer Care Commitment remain foundational to our mission and the standard by which we measure our success.

Safety

- Actively cares, promotes, manages, and advocates for safety at Western States.  As a team member in the organization, it is critical to ensure all employees, vendors, and clients have a safe work environment while adhering to all applicable safety policies, procedures and standards.

- Embraces our caring culture where we each care to adhere with applicable safety policies, PPE expectations and stop work authority.

Customer Care Commitments

- Convey Warmth and Empathy – Acknowledge customers and greet everyone with an authentic smile.

- Actively Listen – Give your full attention, make eye contact, avoid interrupting, and ask clarifying questions.

- Build Trust – Take ownership, act with urgency, and follow through on commitments.

- Say Thank you – Express genuine appreciation for effort, feedback, and collaboration.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:

Regional Yard Operations

- Owns Yard Operations performance for all sites in the assigned region, applying territory-wide standards for safety, customer and employee experience, security, organization, and yard condition.

- Ensures consistent processes for receiving, inspecting, staging, moving, securing, and shipping machines, attachments, components, and materials.

- Coordinates regional staffing and resources to support workload, absences, special projects, and new-site startups.

- Monitors yard capacity, traffic flow, staging, storage, and equipment movement to improve safety, accuracy, and efficiency.

- Ensures yards are clean, orderly, clutter-free, professionally maintained, and customer-ready.

Yard Audits, Cleanliness, and Maintenance

- Completes documented yard audits at every location on an established schedule, evaluating safety, cleanliness, housekeeping, organization, traffic flow, surfaces, fencing, gates, signage, lighting, drainage, wash pads, storage, staging, and appearance.

- Identifies and documents maintenance deficiencies, safety hazards, cleanliness concerns, and conditions affecting operations or the Western States Experience.

- Owns follow-through from discovery through resolution by communicating responsibility, tracking corrective actions, and verifying completion.

- Ensures equipment, attachments, materials, tools, scrap, and waste are stored in designated areas without creating safety, environmental, or appearance concerns.

- Partners with the Regional Facilities Manager when issues require facility expertise, specialized repair, vendor or contractor support, preventive maintenance, or capital investment.

- Escalates significant safety, environmental, infrastructure, security, or capital concerns and identifies recurring issues requiring broader improvement.

Equipment Logistics and Operational Readiness

- Coordinates safe, efficient movement of machines, attachments, and components throughout the region.

- Ensures equipment is inspected, accurately located, staged, secured, and ready for customer or operational use.

- Partners with Heavy Haul, Sales, Rental, Product support, Power and Energy and branch teams to resolve movement and staging issues.

- Supports Return to Ready, Cat Inspect, and applicable Caterpillar and Western States processes.

- Supports snow removal, seasonal readiness, emergency response, and other regional yard needs.

Environmental Compliance

- Partners with the Regional Facilities Manager and Environmental & Development Manager on wash pads, stormwater controls, waste streams, spill prevention, equipment storage, and environmental housekeeping.

- Ensures Yard employees follow established waste-handling, spill-response, wash-pad, and contamination-control procedures.

- Identifies, reports, and follows environmental concerns and corrective actions through completion; supports audits and regulatory inspections.

Leadership and Employee Development

- Leads, coaches, and develops assigned employees and establishes clear expectations for safety, logistics, cleanliness, customer service, and yard standards.

- Supports employee selection, onboarding, training, performance management, succession planning, and retention.

- Develops all team employees to strengthen local leadership and operating consistency.

- Approves schedules and time records as assigned and ensures appropriate regional staffing coverage.

- Addresses performance or conduct concerns promptly and consistently with Human Resources and the Yard Operations Manager.

Budget, Purchasing, and Collaboration

- Supports development and execution of the regional Yard Operations budget, monitors expenses, and recommends equipment, technology, yard improvements, and capital needs.

- Coordinates approved purchases for Yard projects, supplies, tools, signage, PPE, and operational needs in accordance with company requirements.

- Collaborates with Regional Facilities Managers and YD/FC Coordinators to align priorities, share information, and coordinate work at shared sites.

- Partners with branch leadership and communicates regional priorities, audit findings, recurring issues, and resource needs to the Yard Operations Manager.

- Participates in weekly Yard & FC safety meetings and applicable regional meetings; shares best practices across regions.

- Performs other duties as assigned.

KNOWLEDGE SKILLS AND ABILITIES:

- Ability to lead and develop employees across multiple locations; strong knowledge of yard operations, heavy equipment logistics, staging, and safe equipment operation.

- Ability to recognize maintenance deficiencies, unsafe conditions, environmental concerns, and housekeeping issues; conduct audits and close corrective actions.

- Strong planning, problem-solving, communication, conflict-management, and follow-through skills.

- Ability to build effective relationships with branch leaders, Facilities, Safety, Environmental & Development, Transportation, Sales, Rental, Service, and Parts.

- Proficiency with Microsoft 365 and applicable Caterpillar and Western States systems.

- Ability to travel extensively, up to 65%, including overnight stays and occasional evening or weekend work, and respond to urgent operational issues.

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE:

- High school diploma or GED required; associate or bachelors degree in operations, logistics, business, safety, or a related field preferred.

- Minimum five years of relevant heavy equipment, yard operations, logistics, transportation, facilities, or related operational experience required.

- Minimum two years of formal supervisory or leadership experience required; multi-location leadership preferred.

- Heavy equipment operation and training experience strongly preferred; audit and corrective-action experience preferred.

- OSHA 30 preferred, or ability to obtain within the first year. Valid driver license and excellent driving record required.

- Must be able to communicate in English. Spanish beneficial.

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS:

- Ability to stand for long periods of time along with walking, sitting, repetitive climbing stairs, reaching (including but not limited to above-shoulder reaching), repetitive bending, stooping, pushing, pulling, leaning and twisting.

- Exposure to extreme temperatures and environment.

- Ability to safely navigate walking and working on or around uneven and or unstable surfaces.

- Ability to lift up to 60 lbs.

Disclaimer: The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by employees assigned to this classification. It is not intended be an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, and skills required of employees in this classification.

This role is designated as safety-sensitive.