8 Ways to Rock the Dock

1. Soften the Blow With an Impact-able Dock Door.

If damage occurs at all points of the dock door, the best approach is to replace the entire door with a fully impactable dock door/ On this door style, the rollers and sheet metal tracks are replaced with retractable plungers and a V-groove track. When a door is hit, the panel offers no resistance and is knocked out of its track undamaged.

2. Use Compression Seals.

Use doors with compression-style seals mounted to the door panel instead of the jamb, keeping the weatherseal out of harm’s way (That provides a consistent seal comparable to a refrigerator door—which is how many of these dock doors function in a cold storage facility.

3. Weatherseal Dock Levelers.

Help dock floors dodge the draft. Standard, pit-mounted dock levelers provide safe trailer access for forklifts, but their design creates passageways for air infiltration and escape. Pit-style dock levelers can be outfitted with an advanced weatherseal system comprising a combination of durable open-cell foam and heavy-duty vinyl. This system effectively fills the gaps around the sides andrear of the dock leveler.

4. Hug the Truck With Good Seals.

Dock seals are equipped with fabric-covered foam pads that compress when the trailer backs into them, providing a tight seal around the sides of the trailer and closing the gaps between the trailer’s door hinges Dock shelters consist of fabric attached to side and head frames, creating a canopy around the full perimeter of the trailer and allowing full, unimpeded access to the interior of the
trailer.

5. Get a Grip With Restraints.

Many docks use rubber wheel chocks to hold trailers in place during loading and unloading, but they are not as effective as wall- or ground-mounted vehicle restraints at withstanding the forces exerted by forklifts as they drive in and out of trailers. A vehicle restraint holds the trailer snugly to the dock, with the back end of the trailer fully enveloped by the dock seal.

6. Fan the Area.

High-volume, low-speed (HVLS) fans improve worker comfort, contribute to energy savings, and reduce the size of the building’s carbon footprint in many different ways. Most HVLS fans destratify the air, lowering temperatures in the summer and raising them in the winter near the floor level by about 8 degrees. Fans move a massive amount of air using a small amount of electricity. And, they can be solar-powered.

7. Use Energy-efficient Lighting.

Proper lighting is important for safety, both on the dock and inside the truck trailer to prevent injury and product damage. Changing out incandescent lights with LED bulbs can save energy significantly—by an estimated 69 percent. For example, switching out 100 incandescent lights with LEDs can save nearly $60,000 over the life of the bulbs.

8. Schedule Deliveries Well.

In a three-shift facility, trucks may be parked in the doorway most of the day for loading and unloading. Even when a forklift operator is working as fast as possible, the door is fully open and the dock is exposed to outside air for hours at a time. Reduce idling time that wastes fuel with good scheduling software. Make sure a doorway is always available for scheduled truck deliveries.