Getting started with Vantage

Set up your yard, log your first trailer, and get past the usual first-day snags.

Updated September 2026

1. Sign up and set up your yard

1. Create an account at app.vantageyms.com with your email or Google, or in the Vantage iPhone app. No card is needed.
2. Accept the terms and pick Manager/Admin as your role. (Picking Gate Clerk skips the yard setup and gives you a default yard.)
3. Answer the setup questions: your hours, how many dock doors, and your parking zones. You can change all of this later in Settings.

Already have an account? Sign in at app.vantageyms.com. You can type your email in the Username field. Forgot your password? Use Forgot Password? on that screen.

Your first 14 days include every feature. After that the account moves to the Free plan on its own. Nothing is charged, because no card was taken. If a screen says "free trial" or "cancel anytime", there is nothing to cancel: without a card, the account simply stays on the Free plan, which never expires.

2. Your first Gate IN

Where to start: on a computer, click New Gate in the top bar. In a phone browser, tap Gate IN in the bottom bar. In the iPhone app, tap Gate IN.

1. BOL / PO. A reference is required. If you don't have one, type the trailer number. Tap Next: Scan Trailer.
2. No appointment? A new yard has no appointments yet, so you'll see a "no appointment" message. That's expected. Choose Walk-in.
3. Operator ID (first time only). Before the first scan, the app asks for an Operator ID. Type your initials or name (for example JSMITH) and save. It's recorded on each gate record so you can see who logged what. If you tap Cancel you go back to the BOL screen.
4. Trailer number. On a computer you type it in. On the iPhone app you can point the camera at it, or tap Manual Input and type it. Domestic trailer numbers are fine; they don't need to be 11 characters.
5. Review. Check the details and choose LOADED or EMPTY. Trailers start as LOADED.
6. Inspection. Your very first Gate IN skips the inspection, so you can see the whole flow end to end. (In the iPhone app this starts with version 1.0.8. If your app still asks for a seal and photos, switch the trailer to EMPTY on the review screen.) After that, an empty trailer gets a quick damage check. A loaded trailer during your first 14 days gets the C-TPAT seal and photo check; see below if you just want to try things out. On the Free and Lite plans inspections aren't included, so tap Continue without inspection.
7. Pick a spot in the yard (a parking spot, or a dock door for a live unload). That's it: the trailer is in.

If you ever see a "Sync Failed" message after a Gate IN, the record may not have reached us. Please tell us rather than dismissing it, and we'll look right away.

3. "Why is it asking for a seal number and photos?"

• Just trying Vantage out? Switch the trailer to EMPTY on the review screen. Empty trailers get a quick damage check instead.
• Don't do C-TPAT inspections? Turn it off: Settings › Gate › C-TPAT Security › C-TPAT Inbound. Gate IN then asks only for a damage check.
• Do run C-TPAT? Keep it on. Each loaded trailer's seal and photos are stored with its gate record.

4. Signed up with Apple on iPhone?

The web version at app.vantageyms.com doesn't offer Sign in with Apple yet, and accounts created with Apple don't have a password. For now, please use the Vantage iPhone app. Your yard, trailers and settings are all there. We're adding Apple sign-in to the web version and will update this page when it works.

Please don't sign in on the web with Google instead: that creates a separate, empty account unless your Google email is exactly the same address. If you need a computer sooner, contact us and a person will help.

5. Adding a teammate

The Free plan and the 14-day start both include 1 user. Paid plans add seats:

Monthly prices; annual billing is 15% less. Full details on the pricing page.

On a plan with more than one user, a manager invites people from Settings › General › Invite staff. Enter their email and role (gate clerk, yard driver or forklift operator), and they get a one-tap link, so nobody types passwords by hand.

Running a 3PL, DC or cold-storage yard and want to try it with your whole team? Ask about the Founding Partner pilot.

6. What the Free plan includes

• $0, no card, never expires. 1 user, 1 yard, 100 gate transactions a month, and 30 days of history.
• Included: gate in and gate out, trailer numbers read by the phone camera (typed on a computer), a timestamp on every record and a photo whenever the camera is used.
• Not included: C-TPAT inspections (seal and photo checks), the audit pack and API access. Those are on Pro and up.
• Going over 100 in a month doesn't stop a Gate IN or Gate OUT.

7. Reaching us

• The Ask button at the bottom right of this page sends your question straight to the founder's inbox.
• Email: kevin.choi@vantage-yms.com
• In the app: the Help page has a way to write to us.

A person reads every message. If you'd rather not set up the yard yourself, tell us your door numbers and parking rows (a photo of a whiteboard works) and we'll set it up with you.

Related: how it works · pricing · C-TPAT inspection app · deleting your account