Maximising Safety and Productivity: Exploring the Benefits of Dock Levellers

Industries that handle a high volume of goods are under increasing pressure to reduce costs and increase turnaround speeds during loading and unloading operations.

In this comprehensive guide, we delve into the myriad benefits of dock levellers, dissecting how they enhance safety, streamline operations, and bolster productivity in loading and unloading processes. From mitigating workplace accidents to optimising throughput, dock levellers are integral to the smooth functioning of any warehouse or distribution centre. 

What Are the Advantages of Dock Levellers?

Dock levellers are designed to bridge the gap between vehicle beds and warehouse floors, creating many key benefits for your business:

Enhanced Safety for Workers and Equipment: With loading bays accounting for an estimated 25% of workplace accidents, according to ISHN, it’s crucial to invest in equipment and processes that lower the risk of slips, trips, or falls. By providing a smooth transition between vehicles and loading bays, dock levellers reduce the likelihood of forklifts or pallet trucks tipping over – or workers tripping as the climb on and off trucks. Additionally, dock levellers can be used in conjunction with other loading bay equipment such as vehicle restraints and dock lights, to provide a much safer workplace environment.  

Improved Efficiency in Loading and Unloading Operations: A close second to safety, in terms of the value offered by dock levellers to businesses, is their positive impact on operational efficiency. Smooth and efficient loading and unloading operations mean vehicles spend less time at docks. This leads to increased throughput and productivity, ultimately, providing cost savings and potentially higher revenues. 

Flexibility to Accommodate Various Vehicle Types and Loads: Dock levellers only truly benefit your business if they address its specific needs, meeting the requirements set by your loading space, vehicle types, and manual handling equipment. Fortunately, dock levellers can be selected by their width and length, as well as lip design: with a choice of both traditional swing-lip levellers and highly flexible telescopic lip leveller designs.  

To help you select the right dock leveller, our guide “How to design a loading bay” is packed full of useful information. It details how the working height range and maximum gradient of any manual handling equipment must be considered when selecting a leveller.  

Reduction in Manual Labour and Associated Costs: With less workers required to load and unload vehicles, the cost of labour is reduced. This is significant as labour costs form a large part of any logistics company's overall cost base. Furthermore, it allows existing employees to allocate more time to tasks away from loading and unloading, increasing their productivity.  

Extended Equipment Lifespan: By providing a smooth transition between the truck and the warehouse floor, dock levellers can help extend the lifespan of material handling equipment such as forklifts and pallet trucks, reducing maintenance and replacement costs.

Easy to Use with Minimal Training: High-quality dock levellers can be operated using a control panel: simply raise and extend the leveller by pressing the up and out buttons, and return the leveller to the parked position using the standard auto park function.

Control panels can even be integrated with additional functions such as door control, shelter control, and automated interlock to prevent operation when the dock door is not fully open, as well as automatic door closure locking, preventing the door opening if the leveller is not parked correctly.

Cost Effective Maintenance: As with any workplace equipment, it is the responsibility of the company to regularly maintain equipment to ensure it is in good working order. Fortunately, specialist service providers can offer proactive maintenance packages to help identify and address issues early and reduce the risk of costly repairs down the line. Working with a reputable manufacturer that offers reliable products with the option for extended warranties is also incredibly important.  

Protection From the Elements: While it's impossible to influence external factors such as weather conditions, it’s nevertheless true that adverse weather such as wind, rain, and snow can impact the performance of dock levellers. Fear not, as installing weather-resistant dock shelters and seals can protect dock levellers, ensuring continued high-performance across all seasons.

What Industries Benefit Most from Dock Levellers?

To fully understand the advantages dock levellers can provide your business, it’s worth considering which industries are most likely to benefit from investing in the technology. Typically, companies that manage large volumes of goods and have a high reliance on efficient logistics operations invest in dock levellers.  

Examples include:

• Logistics and fulfilment centres, which manage a wide range of products and often operate in a fast-paced environment with tight delivery schedules.
• Manufacturing facilities that receive raw materials and ship out finished products in bulk.
• Food and beverage distribution companies dealing with perishable goods that require careful handling to prevent damage and spoilage.
• E-commerce fulfilment centres face facing increasing pressure to process orders quickly and accurately.
• Retail distribution centres managing high volumes of goods with frequent deliveries and shipments.

Dock levellers support each of these industries to improve efficiency, minimise downtime, handle varying load sizes, and increase throughput, making investing in the technology crucial for the success of their business.

How Dock Levellers Can Benefit Your Business

If you handle high volumes of goods and you want to increase productivity and safety in your loading operations, then investing in a dock leveller makes perfect sense. Dock levellers increase throughput in loading bays, reducing the cost and time taken for loading and unloading goods. At the same time, safety is increased by creating a smooth transition between the trailer bed and warehouse floor – reducing the likelihood of accidents that can cause injuries to employees or damage to goods.  

While new equipment such as dock levellers requires an initial capital outlay, companies across various industries such as retail distribution centres regularly invest in the technology.

Is your business considering investing in dock levellers? And would it benefit from speaking to one of our experts to discuss specific requirements including its current loading environment, vehicle deliveries, and manual handling equipment?  

Why Choose Stertil as Your Dock Leveller Supplier

Stertil manufacturers high-quality, market-leading dock levellers that exceed industry standards, making them ideal for various industries such as retail distribution centres, manufacturing facilities, logistics and fulfilment centres, food and beverage distribution, cold storage warehouses, and e-commerce fulfilment centres.

Our dock levellers are available as swing lip levellers and telescopic lip levellers and are available in various sizes to suit different trailer heights and widths. Additionally, we offer support for the design, planning, and installation of dock levellers to ensure your business gets most out of its investment.  

Contact Stertil on 08707 700471, or email info@stertil.co.uk. 

MORE DOCK LEVELLER INFORMATION