Dock Board and Plates
The most common loading dock equipment are dock plates and boards. They usually act as a bridge to piece together and close a gap between a truck and a dock for humans or items to pass through. Though dock plates and boards are very similar the boards have edges to prevent items from spilling out whereas a plate does not have a barrier. The benefits of not having the raised sides is that the dock plate can be transferred with more ease because the sides will not get in the way.
Dock Lifts and Levelers
To go along with your dock board and plate you will also need a dock lift. This is what you use when there is a truck with an odd height differential. If a height difference is too much for the board or plate to fix, that is when you need the hydraulic dock lift. When loading a truck with boxes rather than individually handing the boxes and height differential the lift will do the job for you keeping you free from any strenuous box movement.
A similar product that does the same job is a dock leveler. For safety and efficiency, a dock leveler stays attached to the dock itself while raising and lowering. It provides better stability and minimized truck movement while loading. This product provides a convenient way to load and unload heavy products from delivery trucks.
Loading Dock Safety
Once you have found the product to bridge the gap between a truck and the unloading area, the next thing you will need is something that provides safety while unloading. Wheel chocks are a must have when working with delivery truck loading and unloading. A wheel chock will prevent a truck from moving when someone is loading and unloading boxes with a forklift. If a truck were to move accidentally moving. If a truck were to move, then the person in a forklift moving boxes will fall in between; this is not safe at all. If there is a miscommunication between a truck driver and forklift user, and the truck drives away this present a high danger. Danger should be eliminated in these sorts of material handling task, and because we want safety, wheel chocks are a must have.
Auto lock docks are a product that is very similar to wheel chocks, but it is even safer, more reliable and efficient. So, if you have the means to spend a little extra on the auto lock dock, we recommend you do so. With an auto dock lock the truck will back in and the lock grabs the truck, puts on a green light and allows the driver and forklift user to do their job safely. With this mechanical equipment the truck driver cannot mess up because even if he accidentally tries to drive, he will be stopped, and the box handler will be safe.
Safety is important in a loading dock area, and therefore we want to inform you on the top 5 things we think you need for your work zone. These top 5 products will provide safety, efficiency, and reliability.
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