Loading Dock Equipment No Business Should Do Without
One of the most critical aspects of any business, regardless of its status as a manufacturer, distributor, or seller of goods, is the functioning of its shipping and receiving department. Within that department one of the most important parts of the business is the loading dock; it is there that employees check, double-check, and then load the correct shipments on to the correct trucks. Or if the products are inbound check them to make sure the right shipment has arrived on the truck.
It is important to ensure the loading dock equipment is always up to date and ready to run. Broken equipment that is outdated lowers productivity and hurts morale within shipping and receiving, and since these environments are often unionized, can lead to strikes – as we witnessed this week with the ports on the West Coast. Broken equipment needs to be replaced immediately from suppliers’ such as copperloy.com.
For this reason, we have produced a list of loading dock equipment that a business simply cannot do without.
Yard Ramps – Even if your company has a loading bay a yard ramp will be useful for unloading equipment in the yard. Many trucks arriving to deliver or pick up product from your establishment will not be the right height to connect directly to your loading bay. So rather than leave your employees to scramble when this situation occurs, ensure you have good functioning yard ramps.
Dock Ramps – Sometimes items are just too big to be unloaded through the dock. A dock ramp allows the cargo to be unloaded in the yard, and then easily brought up inside the facility. Since these ramps are highly durable they also allow your team to bring light trucks, forklifts, and other useful tools into the warehouse. Or take warehouse equipment back out of the facility easily for repair.
Edge of Docks – The edge of dock leveler is a tool used to bridge the gap between the loading dock and the truck. Unless you want to frustrate your loading bay crew to the point of striking, or worse quitting, it is best to make sure they do not have to “mind the gap” as they work to load or unload cargo from trucks.
Portable Platforms – These platforms allow your shipping and receiving team to load or unload trucks anywhere – including in the middle of the yard – or someone else’s yard. It is quite common for shipments to end up in the wrong place and needing to be collected. It then becomes useful to bring a portable platform with you.
