Safety is at the top of mind for many businesses as they work to improve workplace safety. There are many options with loading dock products that can be used for a safer loading dock, and trailer restraints are among those with the biggest impact.
A trailer restraint, also known as a dock lock or vehicle restraint, is a device activated and released by dock personnel to secure a truck trailer to your dock. Trailer restraints are available in many forms and styles, with the most common being a hook or stop that engages the rear impact guard (RIG) of a semi-trailer. This hook prevents the trailer from leaving the dock when active. Trailer restraints are particularly useful in cases of high truck traffic where driver communication is less stable.
There are many considerations to account for when selecting the correct restraint for your dock. The basis of these considerations include climate, project requirements, environmental conditions, truck types, and existing warehouse dock equipment integrations.
Project Requirements
Depending on your project and facility, retrofitting a trailer restraint to a dock that does not already have one may produce a problem for finding a power source. In these cases, a manually activated and stored restraint may be the right fit for your project.
Climate
The climate impacts the style of restraint that will work for your facility. The two styles of restraints are surface mounted and recessed. For climates that receive snow, we recommend a recessed restraint for their ability to avoid ice buildup and stay out of the way for snow removal equipment. For employee comfort, a power-activated restraint allows the operator to push a button and visually confirm a secured RIG.
Application Environment
The environmental considerations include refrigerated docks and washdown conditions. For these special applications, maintenance frequency and corrosion resistance become more important. Restraints with less moving components and those that are less maintenance-prone are powered hydraulic systems, especially those that are recessed. A top contender for this spot is the
Poweramp PowerHook vehicle restraint.
Truck/Trailer Type
A conventional trailer restraint can capture any over-the-road trailer manufactured for American roads. For straight trucks, however, this is a different scenario. The best option for a straight truck without a RIG is a wheel chock system like this one. The
UniChock from Poweramp allows a user to secure a straight truck with the simplicity of a standard wheel chock and the additional benefit of visual communication to drivers and dock personnel of the status of the dock. This will cause for safer loading conditions regardless of truck type.
Equipment Integrations
If your dock has existing powered equipment, adding a trailer restraint that can use existing equipment to power itself is simple and efficient. Beyond the power unit, many warehouse are moving to cloud software to monitor and coordinate dock traffic. This advancement in technology increases control of costs and efficiency. Making sure you choose a trailer restraint that is compatible with software like
myQ from Systems is a big step towards setting your dock up for future decisions and integrations.
