Terberg YT: the yard tractor that moves trailers at the terminal

The Terberg YT is the terminal tractor of the Royal Terberg Group, the Dutch specialist vehicle builder from IJsselstein and Benschop. Its customers operate terminals at ports, airports and logistic centres, where trailers have to be moved short distances all day long.

Terberg YT at a glance

Neither the English nor the Dutch Wikipedia has a separate article on the YT series, so this page is based on the two articles about the company.

History of the Terberg YT

From smithy to truck builder

Terberg began in 1869 as a smithy in Benschop, in the province of Utrecht, and later built carriages. After the Second World War the family business repaired and converted surplus army trucks, and in 1966 it produced its first truck of its own, using Mercedes-Benz components. A year later came a new truck with a DAF engine and a Van Eck cab, and expansion and export followed.

Special vehicles

Terberg’s reputation was built on vehicles for jobs that standard lorries cannot do. In 1981 the company released an all-terrain pipe transport truck with a low cab, and in the 1980s it built its first 8×8; the period was full of special projects, among them a 10×6 concrete pump truck. In 1999 Terberg introduced its first roll-on-roll-off tractor. Heavy-duty tractors and low-entry trucks are used across the sectors the company serves, and electric tractors are available.

The YT in the terminal

The YT belongs to the part of the business that serves terminals at ports, airports and logistics centres. A terminal tractor is a short, low-cab vehicle built to couple to a semi-trailer and move it within a yard, a job where a conventional road tractor would be clumsy and slow to get in and out of. Terberg’s terminal work sits alongside its other specialised vehicles for the construction, mining and tunnelling industries, its waste collection systems and its truck-mounted forklifts.

The group today

Terberg is a family company with headquarters in IJsselstein and a German headquarters in Hamburg, with branches in Bochum and Bad Rappenau. Subsidiaries operate in the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Germany, Belgium, France, Spain and Poland, as well as Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates, and in Brazil and the United States. In the Netherlands the group also provides financial services, including leasing and rental of cars and commercial vehicles. Terberg RosRoca Group was formed in 2016 by merging Terberg’s environmental division with Ros Roca of Spain; it had 1,300 employees, a turnover of €385 million and plants in the UK, the Netherlands, Spain, Germany, Brazil and China, and in March 2022 it returned to the name Terberg Environmental Group.

Design and features

• Built for the yard: a terminal tractor for moving trailers inside ports, airports and logistics centres.
• Low cab: the driver steps in and out many times a shift, so the cab sits low and the vehicle stays short.
• Family firm: Terberg has been in the same family since 1869 and received the Royal predicate in 2019.
• Electric option: Terberg offers electric tractors alongside its diesel vehicles.

Terberg YT versions

• YT terminal tractor: the yard tractor for port, airport and logistics terminals.
• Electric tractors: offered by Terberg alongside its diesel vehicles.
• Heavy-duty tractors: Terberg’s road and site tractors, standardised on Volvo components.
• Roll-on-roll-off tractor: the rorotrekker introduced in 1999.
• Low-entry trucks: used where the driver has to step in and out frequently.

More vehicles from this Dutch specialist are in the Terberg collection.

Sources

• Royal Terberg Group, English Wikipedia: company history, terminals, electric tractors, group structure
• Terberg, Dutch Wikipedia: founding date, first trucks, special vehicles, employees, royal predicate