Dock bumpers can help you safeguard your dock area, your dock equipment and trailers. Every product that moves in and out of your warehouse or production facility flows through the dock, so it is essential to maintain it and keep all bays in good working order.
Types of Dock Bumpers
Dock bumpers are generally situated so that a truck or trailer “bumps” against them rather than against your structure. This safeguards your building, your dock levelers and the trailer or truck that makes use of your dock.
There are many varieties of dock bumpers, and choosing an appropriate bumper can be an important decision, depending upon the throughput of your loading dock. Adding dock bumpers that are too light can lead to an early demise, while using dock bumpers that are too heavy will be pointless and could actually create problems when docking trailers.
The style of dock bumpers you pick will be dictated by the average vehicle or trailer height, the approach, overall volume and many additional variables. For loading docks where trailers are expected to sway during loading movements, bumpers can be installed in either a vertical or horizontal orientation.
Molded Bumpers (Light Duty): Bumpers built from molded rubber can supply protection for low-traffic loading docks. In addition, they may be used inside a warehouse to protect doorways, walls and other structural elements from pallet trucks, forklifts and other material handling equipment.
Molded rubber is the least durable option of various dock bumper styles, and is more prone to chipping or gouging. They may be a workable option for your business if your loading dock doesn’t receive a lot of truck traffic.
Laminated Bumpers (Medium Duty): Laminated bumpers have more substantial pads than molded bumpers and afford superior shock absorption. They are made from strips of old truck tires that have been cut to size and mounted between steel brackets.
These bumpers have a reasonably good level of wear resistance and are versatile in terms of height, length and overall thickness. They are frequently applied on docks configured with pit levelers or edge-of-dock equipment, as they allow prolonged protection for high volume docks.
