A trailer stand positionable by a shunt truck is disclosed. The trailer stand includes a leg assembly having a front pair of legs and a back pair of legs, the front pair of legs connected by a front cross support and the back pair of legs connected by a back cross support, a wheel assembly having a wheel assembly frame that has a first end and a second end, the first end connected to the back pair of legs, the second end retaining an axle, the axle rotatably retaining at least two wheels, a stepped assembly having a front end, a back end, a top, and a bottom, the front end connected to the front cross support, the back end connected to the back cross support, the top of the stepped assembly providing a plurality of landing areas for an end of the semi-trailer, and a lifting frame.

A system and method for operation of an autonomous vehicle (AV) yard truck is provided. A processor facilitates autonomous movement of the AV yard truck, and connection to and disconnection from trailers. A plurality of sensors are interconnected with the processor that sense terrain/objects and assist in automatically connecting/disconnecting trailers. A server, interconnected, wirelessly with the processor, that tracks movement of the truck around and determines locations for trailer connection and disconnection. A door station unlatches/opens rear doors of the trailer when adjacent thereto, securing them in an opened position via clamps, etc. The system computes a height of the trailer, and/or if landing gear of the trailer is on the ground and interoperates with the fifth wheel to change height, and whether docking is safe, allowing a user to take manual control, and optimum charge time(s). Reversing sensors/safety, automated chocking, and intermodal container organization are also provided.

A terminal tractor includes a fifth wheel coupling which is rotatable relative to a longitudinal axis of the terminal tractor such that an opening in the fifth wheel coupling may be reoriented depending on the terminal tractor's direction of approach to a semi-trailer.

A terminal tractor includes four independently steerable wheels, each with their own dedicated drive motor and each with their own dedicated steering device. The terminal tractor includes a controller operable to provide input commands to the drive motors and to the steering devices to operate the terminal tractor. The terminal tractor also includes a fifth wheel coupling which includes a lifting mechanism capable of raising and lowering the fifth wheel coupling a in single vertical direction.

A connecting system and a method for connecting a towing vehicle to a semitrailer includes a first plug unit configured to be fixed to a rotor of a semitrailer unit rotatably mounted on the semitrailer unit about an axis of rotation and having a first coupling portion, and a second plug unit having at least one mounting portion configured to be attached to a coupling plate of a commercial vehicle and a second coupling portion, wherein the first and second coupling portions are configured to be coupled together along a coupling axis such that the coupling axis is substantially parallel to the axis of rotation and spaced from the axis of rotation, and such that the first coupling portion is displaceable relative to the rotor and/or the second coupling portion is displaceable relative to the mounting portion along the coupling axis to engage or disengage the respective opposite coupling portion.

Systems and methods determines that a trailer being towed by an autonomous electric tractor has its brakes applied when a motor current value of a drive motor of the autonomous electric tractor reaches or exceeds a first current threshold. a recover handler initiates a set of actions to recover resolve the trailer brake problem. A trailer lift status indicating whether a landing gear of the trailer is off the ground and a lift metric indicative of a height of the landing gear off the ground are determined by a perception module using one or more of images, point clouds, and radar data that include the trailer.

A device and method operated thereby may control a hydraulic pump to pump a hydraulic fluid into a chamber of a piston coupled to a fifth wheel of the tractor to raise the fifth wheel. The device, and method operated thereby, may sense, at intervals as the fifth wheel rises, a pressure value of the hydraulic fluid in the chamber. The device, and method operated thereby, may process the pressure values to determine when the landing gear is lifted off the ground.

A system and method for operation of an autonomous vehicle (AV) yard truck is provided. A processor facilitates autonomous movement of the AV yard truck, and connection to and disconnection from trailers. A plurality of sensors are interconnected with the processor that sense terrain/objects and assist in automatically connecting/disconnecting trailers. A server, interconnected, wirelessly with the processor, that tracks movement of the truck around and determines locations for trailer connection and disconnection. A door station unlatches/opens rear doors of the trailer when adjacent thereto, securing them in an opened position via clamps, etc. The system computes a height of the trailer, and/or if landing gear of the trailer is on the ground and interoperates with the fifth wheel to change height, and whether docking is safe, allowing a user to take manual control, and optimum charge time(s). Reversing sensors/safety, automated chocking, and intermodal container organization are also provided.

A system and method for operation of an autonomous vehicle (AV) yard truck is provided. A processor facilitates autonomous movement of the AV yard truck, and connection to and disconnection from trailers. A plurality of sensors are interconnected with the processor that sense terrain/objects and assist in automatically connecting/disconnecting trailers. A server, interconnected, wirelessly with the processor, that tracks movement of the truck around and determines locations for trailer connection and disconnection. A door station unlatches/opens rear doors of the trailer when adjacent thereto, securing them in an opened position via clamps, etc. The system computes a height of the trailer, and/or if landing gear of the trailer is on the ground and interoperates with the fifth wheel to change height, and whether docking is safe, allowing a user to take manual control, and optimum charge time(s). Reversing sensors/safety, automated chocking, and intermodal container organization are also provided.