(Courtesy: La Moderna Due)
A major section of a warehouse that calls out for the execution of safety practices is the loading dock. Not adequately considered, a loading dock can be the center of major accidents and needless expenses. Risks and expenditures can be minimized as long as proper safety features are incorporated into the design. Careful planning can alleviate problems before they occur and assure safe and efficient dock function, employee safety and effective transportation of orders from the warehouse to the intended destination of the shipment.
People who are familiar with loading dock design say that problems are caused when planners don’t consider future dock use and changes in manufacturing and production. Magnets for attracting trouble include poorly planned approaches, small doorways, extreme slopes, gravel approaches, unsuitable bumper projections, and platforms that are too low to properly accommodate trucks.
A plan that considers the future can minimize and even eliminate expensive remodeling.
Planning the dock for the future can include incorporating things like knockout panel walls for door expansion or using wheel risers for smaller trucks.
Safety needs to be the primary concern. Ignored safety issues could cost your company in excess of $1 million due to such direct costs as medical expenses, wage indemnity, and claims administration fees. The costs are compounded by indirect liability caused by injuries, damaged equipment and goods, lost production, diminished operation quality, interruption of business, yield losses, replacement labor, overtime, litigation, and higher insurance premiums. You could find yourself paying an additional $5 to $10 in indirect liabilities for every dollar of direct costs.
You could start the formation of your plan with the outside area leading up to the back door of the dock. This area is referred to as the Apron Space. This is the area where trucks can maneuver into position at the dock opening. Planning for the extension of the dock for current and future freight deliveries should center on the direction of traffic flow, total length of the vehicles, and the materials used for the surface of the area leading up to the dock.
A simple rule of thumb in determining apron space is to calculate the longest combination of truck and trailer that will use the dock and multiply that total by two. Add an additional safety factor of 5-feet to 10-feet. So a truck with the overall length of 70-feet will require an apron space of 150-feet.
You can use asphalt as the surface, but the asphalt should cover a concrete landing strip. The concrete is necessary because asphalt becomes soft when hot and can depress, which changes the truck differential to the dock.
Consider the number of trucks that come in during a day, delivery schedule, the number of pallets that can be loaded or unloaded in an hour at one opening, and the number of trailers that are commonly staged at the dock when deciding on the number of loading bays to use.
Provide enough space for the safe departure of the staging trucks to eliminate any possibility of bottlenecks. Keep in mind that a 60-foot long trailer that is 8-feet, 6-inches wide needs a minimum of 510 square feet of staging area and can be loaded to a height of 10-feet.
Dock approach and types, dock height, door sizes, and dock bumpers will be discussed in later blogs.