In an ideal world, the dimensions of goods vehicles and the loading bays they use would conform to strict rules – and dock shelters would scarcely be needed. In the real, non-ideal world, vehicles and loading bays vary in size and configuration. This leaves a gap...not a theoretical, marketplace gap but a physical gap, between the particular vehicle concerned and the loading bay it is occupying. Since the gaps to be filled naturally vary, dock shelters must be flexible.
Just a moment though, what's the problem with a gap's being there anyway? Well, the gap isn't a huge problem in itself but what passes through it can be. Any cargo-handling staff member will soon educate you about this. For example, suppose the goods in transit would suffer if they became wet. Rain, hail, sleet and snow vary in the degree of dampness they create but the end result is the same – soggy goods. Imagining drenched dresses, sodden soap or wet white goods will give you an adequate illustration of the need for dock shelters.
Besides, dock shelters aren't essential only for what they keep out. Everyone is encouraged to have double-glazing and cavity wall insulation to trim their home's carbon footprint. Actually, everyone has these things to keep their heating bills down. Do they leave a door or window open in mid winter? No they don't but an open loading bay loses heat from a building just as effectively. Dock shelters help maintain an even temperature to keep workers even-tempered. They reduce this unarguably expensive and uncomfortable loss...by closing the abovementioned gap.
A dock shelter has to form an effective temporary seal between a loading bay and a vehicle. To do this, it must be able to accept various sizes of vehicle. Doing so is easier than it sounds because dock shelters are simple devices. They come in two guises, projecting or recessed, and both work in the same way. Each has a pair of flexible, fabric side curtains, which rest against the rear quarters of a vehicle's body when it's reversed into place. Vertical marking strips help the driver align the vehicle correctly. This leaves only the upper edge of the vehicle's tail to be accommodated. The various heights of vehicle are catered for by an adjustable head frame, which can be positioned to allow the head curtain it carries to rest in the right place. Sometimes, this head frame adjustment is automatic, making gap-filling easier still.
What makes a dock shelter good? In a word, flexibility. In order to make a working seal between a vehicle's tail and a building, a dock shelter must flex but only in a horizontal direction. Equally, it must be tough...tough enough to handle repeated pressure and friction from moving vehicles as well as assaults from Mother Nature. Fortunately, fabrics muscular enough to cope are used, suspended from similarly brawny side and head frame assemblies.
Last but not least, there's a further aspect of your business that expertly designed and well-made dock shelters can enhance. The world may not be ideal but it's certainly competitive. Remember that ill conceived, badly constructed and or scruffy dock shelters can give a lasting impression – of the wrong sort – about your business. After all, it's better to have excellent, effective dock shelters that won't be curtains for your business.
Chase Equipment are a leading international supplier of docks shelters. See our website at Chase Equipment for more information.
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