The Ins and Outs of a Sustainable Loading Dock

Via SustainablePlant

The idea of going green and increasing sustainability is becoming a fact of corporate life, and the supply chain plays a major role in these efforts. According to research conducted by an independent environmental consultant, the supply chain and logistics operations represent as much as 40 to 60 percent of a company’s environmental footprint. The energy required for shipping products, heating and cooling the distribution facilities and fueling the trucks that transport products to their destinations all put a strain on the environment, natural resources and potentially companies’ bottom lines.

The benefits of creating a more sustainable loading dock go beyond simply protecting resources. Facilities can reduce costs, enhance brand equity and strengthen relationships with customers across many industries by improving supply chain sustainability.

A holistic awareness of the supply chain and its environmental, social and economic impacts is essential for companies that want to seize the opportunity to increase sustainability. Many facilities are making adjustments to policies and procedures that will allow them to run a more energy-efficient business and many are including a focus on the loading dock.

For a variety of reasons, the loading dock area presents significant challenges when it comes to reducing air flow entering or exiting the facility. If the dock is not sealed properly, energy loss can be substantial and steal thousands of dollars from the operating budget, defeating the good intentions of the sustainability program. Completely sealing the loading dock area to increase sustainability requires consideration of a number of factors.

Protect the Dock Door

Impactable dock doors are designed for high-traffic loading docks, where they help maintain weather-tight seals with minimum maintenance despite impacts from forklifts and product loads.

Forklifts are essential for loading and unloading trailers. These vehicles are forced to maneuver product within a confined space, which often results in damage to dock doors from fork lift impacts, especially on traditional metal overhead doors. Similar to a standard garage door, these are not built to survive a direct impact from a forklift. When a traditional door is not damaged to the point of repair or replacement, the guide rollers may be displaced the sheet metal door track guide after an impact, causing misalignment of the door panel and costly gaps.

A traditional metal door style may be fine for low-usage docks, but for busy facilities, impactable dock doors will save the maintenance budget and boost energy efficiency. As the name implies, impactable dock doors do not resist the force of the impact from a forklift or other material handling equipment. Instead, heavy-duty retractable plungers release the panel from the door guide, absorbing the impact and preventing damage. A quick pull sets the door back in place, making it operational in just minutes.

In addition to energy-saving initiatives within the building, sustainability managers are looking to reduce truck idling time that wastes fuel. Quickly restoring a door to operation and making sure a doorway is available for scheduled trucks helps minimize idle time, which reduces fuel consumption and unnecessary pollution.

A dock leveler weather seal provides a perimeter seal along the sides and rear of the dock leveler to prevent energy loss.

Seal Gaps at the Pit

Standard pit-mounted dock levelers provide safe trailer access for forklifts, but the nature of their design includes gaps along the perimeter of the leveler where air can infiltrate and escape, inviting energy losses. Most new and existing pit-style dock levelers can be outfitted with an advanced weatherseal system comprised of a combination of durable open-cell foam and heavy-duty vinyl. The superior perimeter seal along the sides and rear of the dock leveler blocks dirt, debris, and insects, as well as preventing energy loss.

As an additional layer of protection against energy loss, steel leveler platforms can be coated on the underside with spray foam insulation to minimize the platform’s ability to conduct heat or cold.

Tighten the Seal on Trailers

Most docks have seals or shelters to provide an effective barrier against the elements to keep the dock area safe and efficient. Dock seals and shelters are a critical component in containing cooled air in the dock areas of temperature-regulated and cold-storage facilities. These flexible structures can withstand damaging force and compression when a trailer backs up to the wall for years of reliable performance.

Compressible foam on a galvanized steel frame offers high durability because the material will not rot, split, crack or warp. Using plated screws with load-spreading washers provides a strong, positive seal between internal and external environments, locking out energy loss and the elements.

Employing the proper vehicle restraint that secures the trailer snugly against the dock seal is key to creating this positive seal. Vehicle restraints also provide protection for forklift drivers by preventing trailer creep and add an extra measure to the doorway seal. If the trailer is allowed to slightly pull away from the wall, the doorway seal becomes less effective than one that is held tight to the dock doorway.

Shine with Efficient Lighting

Proper lighting on the dock and inside the trailer helps prevents injuries and damage to product. Replacing standard incandescent bulbs with energy-efficient, long lasting LED lights can make a significant difference in energy usage. Studies have suggested that switching out 100 incandescent lights with LEDs can save the average warehouse facility $60,000 over the life of the lights.

Standard dock lights have the potential to suffer damage from a forklift. Impactable LED dock lights are designed for use in the toughest applications. With a rugged housing and lens, they are built to withstand the most severe fork lift, trailer and product load impacts without damage to the light.

Most of these lights can easily be retrofitted to an existing facility or installed into new facilities during construction to provide hours of increased safety and energy savings at the loading dock.

Get a Big Fan

The high-volume, low-speed (HVLS) large fan was designed to create a comfortable environment for employees while maintaining an energy-efficient facility. These fans produce a large cylindrical column of air to effectively circulate air in a variety of spaces and regulate the temperature of large facilities. The selection of sizes and power configurations are suitable for many environments, and their ability to be run in forward and reverse enables year-round savings.

High-volume, low-speed (HVLS) fans help create a safe, comfortable work environment for employees while minimizing HVAC energy consumption.

While these fans help to keep employees comfortable, they also can protect product integrity and improve working conditions in a facility. Air circulation helps keep food and produce dry and fresh, reducing spoilage. Condensation is also minimized, keeping floors drier and safer for foot and motorized traffic.

Execute Movements with Purpose

LED dock lighting delivers maximum light output while remaining energy-efficient.

Using the proper loading dock equipment is the first step in improving sustainability on the loading dock. Configuring equipment to operate in a predetermined sequence order ensures that the dock offers protection for both dockworkers and the energy program.

Master control panels combine the separate controllers for vehicle restraints, dock levelers, overhead doors and dock lights into one box. This not only saves wiring and installation costs, but allows the equipment to be programmed such that the door cannot open or remain open and the dock light only runs while loading is in process.

Yard and dock management systems use state-of-the-art technology to provide facilities with increased visibility, productivity and sustainability in their yard, loading dock and warehouse areas. Most yard management systems use RFID and GPS technology to provide real-time, accurate information to help facilities keep track of everything going on in the yard. From scheduling to reporting, these systems help increase visibility, productivity and sustainability to perform the most meaningful movements in the yard.

Dock management systems keep the dock running at optimal efficiency by collecting critical equipment analytics to help make important decisions to increase sustainability. These systems allow the entire loading dock to be visible, thus increasing efficiency and keeping the loading dock running at peak performance.

A sealed loading dock area is key to a successful sustainability program. A properly designed loading dock system will enable operations to achieve both peak energy and optimal logistics efficiency. Product enters and leaves a facility through the loading dock area, and it is there that supply chain sustainability begins.