A system for building a vehicle system determines cargo and vehicles to carry the cargo from a first location to a second location via one or more vehicle yards disposed between the locations. One or more characteristics of the vehicle yards are determined, as well as different builds of the vehicle system based on the cargo, the vehicle units, and the characteristics of the vehicle yards. The different builds designate different combinations of where the first cargo is carried in a vehicle system that includes the vehicle units and/or where the vehicle units are located relative to each other in the vehicle system. A build of the vehicle system is selected from among the different builds for forming the vehicle system according to the build in order to reduce the time spent handling or processing the vehicle system at another vehicle yard.