LOADING BAYS & DOORS FEATURE CHOOSING THE RIGHT DOCK SHELTER
D
ock shelters and seals play a big role in maintaining
efficiency and saving energy in warehouses with internal loading/unloading bays. But with various options to choose from which is right for a given application? Guy Windle of sara LBS examines the relative merits of standard, retractable and inflatable dock shelters. The unpredictability of British
weather means that, every day, opening a door is a journey into the unknown. For a busy warehouse, the challenges of maintaining a given ambient temperature can be severe, with heat loss, or indeed heat ingress, being a significant issue. From a thermal efficiency perspective, every time the loading bay doors are opened, it is potentially costing you money in terms of heating or cooling the warehouse environment. Wind, snow and rain encroaching into the workplace can also compromise production or damage goods; as well as having implications for safety and hygiene. It’s no surprise, then, that dock
shelters have become a popular option as the interface between the warehouse and the lorry. Rugged and robust, they form an effective seal against the lorry during loading and unloading, and reduce heat/chill loss from thermally regulated premises or vehicles. They also protect goods and operatives from the extremes of the weather. Heavy-duty by design and extremely cost effective when considered against the energy savings they enable in maintaining the warehouse ambient temperature, dock shelters offer a low maintenance solution to sealing the gap between the loading bay and the vehicle body. Curtains protect goods from the weather and help to maintain warehouse temperature. Easy to install, they can be readily integrated with traffic light controls, internal dock
lights and other automated warehouse systems. When looking at a dock shelter
for a given application, there are three primary options: rigid, retractable and inflatable. The standard, rigid dock shelter is designed to allow unobstructed access to the rear of the vehicle for easy loading or unloading. They provide good all-round protection from the outside elements, employing two vertical side curtains and a horizontal head curtain to provide an effective seal against the vehicle. The same benefits are also
provided by retractable dock shelters, but these offer the additional advantage of folding back if struck by a poorly parked vehicle. This not only reduces the possibility of impact damage, but also ensures an effective seal is established. Once the vehicle leaves the bay the shelter will return to its original position. The third option for dock shelters
is the inflatable model. Here, once the vehicle is docked at the shelter, the side and head curtains are inflated to provide a weather- tight, energy-efficient seal against the vehicle. Inflatable dock seals provide an
excellent solution for warehouses working with a wide range of vehicle heights. Hygiene regulations are catered for, and the internal retraction system for the side air bags gives a smart and tidy appearance. The enclosed, counter-balanced weight retraction system for the head seal ensures that that it is discretely stored away when deflated. For any business with regular
warehouse loading and unloading, the dock shelter is an important consideration. For the warehouse to be thermally efficient, hygienically safe and operationally productive, businesses need to get the choice of dock shelter right.
sara LBS T: 01442 245577
www.saralbs.co.uk / MATERIALSHANDLINGLOGISTICS MATERIALS HANDLING & LOGISTICS | MAY 2018 S13
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