The modern loading dock is an artery for goods, a conduit for profitable operation, and a laundry list of possible accidents waiting to happen. With up to 135,000-pound trailers backing into the loading-dock, impact after impact (which is unavoidable) can wreak havoc on everything from the cement foundation to the dock leveler, traffic lights, dock seals, truck restraints, and electrical components.
And, damaged dock equipment isn’t just inconvenient, it can run up a bill.
It has been estimated that an out-of-commission dock costs a business about $1700 an hour.
Half a day to repair concrete? A day (or week) to repair the dock leveler? You do the math; dock shutdowns are costly and can be an enormous stress on any business with a schedule to meet. But you needn’t be at the mercy of reversing trailers crashing and banging into profits.
Who knew “business insurance” could be found in recycled, laminated rubber tires?
The dock bumper is a pretty simple piece of equipment. To avoid dock damage, you install protruding rubber bumpers to the bottom of the dock opening, and presto… dock damage is eliminated. For the life of the bumper, there’s just no way for even the heaviest of heavy-weight trailers to bash, bang, bam or batter your dock.
But, as simple as the job sounds, not all bumpers are created equal. There are several types of rubber-bumper protection options available for the loading dock:
The Molded Bumper can be effective for low-traffic/light-weight service areas, but they are quick to wear and require frequent replacement.
The Laminated Bumper is the workhorse of our lineup. Crafted from tough, used rubber truck tires, our laminated bumpers are engineered to take a heavy-duty hit and resist abrasion.
But all rubber bumpers are subject to life-shortening, cheese-grater-like abrasion from the up/down movement of the trailer pressed against them, as the forklift loads/offloads above.
Steel-Faced Bumpers add a solid layer of friction- and impact-resistant steel over a laminated rubber core, and you get a strong-as-steel bumper option for busy docks that will extend the time between replacements.
And finally, the SLIDING bumper. The newest member of our dock bumper family, the SLIDE-effectTM, marries the best of our tough rubber technology and combines with a friction-beating slide mechanism, to create what might be the last bumper you ever buy.
With a lifetime warranty and patent-pending mechanism, our SLIDE-effectTM bumper (you guessed it…) slides with the movement of the trailer pressed against it. No abrasion means no wear-and-tear and a much longer bumper life.
And should the bumper ever reach the point where it does need to be replaced, it’s guaranteed for life and can easily be swapped-in without tools, fuss, or dock closure in minutes!
The SLIDE-effectTM is the ultimate in dock protection and downtime prevention. For product video and more information, please visit https://bit.ly/36sRbYa .
