Your loading dock is the heartbeat of your business. Raw materials come in, finished products ship out. If your loading docks are not running at peak efficiency, it could be cutting into your profits. So how can you make sure your loading docks are operating at optimal efficiency?
The answer is ensuring the right design, the right equipment, and regular maintenance.
Loading Dock & Door Design
Whether you’re starting from scratch, or you’re up and running – just not as efficiently as you’d like – taking a hard look at your loading dock design is a great place to start.
If you inherited your loading dock design from a previous tenant, there’s a possibility you’re experiencing bottlenecks at your loading docks or the loading dock dimensions aren’t suitable for the types of trucks visiting your site.
- Loading dock height: Truck height typically ranges from 30″ to 62″. The most common dock height is 48″ to 52″.
- Loading dock width: the majority of trucks are at least 8′ wide, so ideally your loading dock should be able to accommodate trucks of this size.
Properly-sized commercial roll-up doors and dock levellers are equally critical to complete your setup.
Loading Dock/Door Equipment
There is a wide selection of commercial doors available – how do you know which one you need? It all comes down to three considerations: space, use, and environment.
- Space – What size of door do you need? What size can fit your current configuration?
- Use – What type of truck traffic do you typically see? How quickly and how often do you need to load/unload?
- Environment – What are your operating conditions? Heat, cold, rain, snow, and wind – all can impact your commercial door operation, and the conditions inside your facility.
For more information, read our blog 3 Tips for Choosing Your Roll-Up Garage Door.
Regardless of what door you need for your loading dock, O’Brien Lifting Solutions has the right solution, with a complete range of commercial doors, from high speed roll up doors, hard-working and flexible commercial steel doors, and rubber doors to help protect the interior of your building against the elements. We can also install or replace the right dock levellers to create a stable bridge between trucks and your facility.
And what about inside your building? You’ll need to make space for the equipment you’ll be using to load and unload cargo, whether pallet trucks, hand carts, or heavy transport dollies, along with processes to support their safe and efficient use.
Other important safety and efficiency factors to review are ventilation, temperature, lighting, safety markings on floors, barriers or bars.
Maintenance & Service
Nothing slows you down like broken equipment. If you’re waiting on a door or dock repair, your production slows down. That’s where O’Brien’s commitment to speedy service and trusted ongoing maintenance comes into play.
- O’Brien 24/7 Commercial Door and Loading Dock Repairs – we carry one of the largest part inventories in North America, and have a fleet of service technicians ready to answer your call when you need a repair. We’re committed to getting you up and running FAST. We pride ourselves on having one of the best response times in the business.
- O’Brien Commercial Door and Loading Dock Preventive Maintenance – even better than quick repairs? Stopping problems before they start. Routine maintenance helps improve the performance and extend the life of your dock equipment. We’ll work with you to build a consistent schedule for inspections and maintenance that work around your busy production times, maintain clear records of service performance and recommendations, and address any immediate safety concerns.
For more information, read our blog:
Reduce Downtime with O’Brien Crane Service and Commercial Door Repair.
Trust O’Brien Lifting Solutions for Loading Dock & Door Design, Installation & Service
Trust the experts. With O’Brien, you can be confident in our over 60 years of experience, the expertise of our people, and our commitment to our customers. We are committed to innovative product and system solutions and work with you to have you up and running fast, from concept to completion.
Contact O’Brien today for dock design, installation, or service.