How to Prevent Common Problems with Loading Dock Seals and Shelters

Loading dock seals are an essential part of any commercial facility. Whether you’re shipping goods out or receiving them, you need a safe and secure loading dock environment where the trucks can dock and your workers can access the trailers.

Loading dock seals and shelters seal off the space between the dock and the trailer, providing a safe and sheltered environment for your workers to do their jobs efficiently. Without that protection, the heated or cooled air can escape freely into the outdoors, leading to higher energy costs for you. Plus, outside elements can make it more difficult for workers to do their jobs.

However, like anything else, dock shelters and seals wear out over time and experience performance issues. In this blog, we’ll talk about how you can prevent common issues with loading dock seals, how to spot problems, and what benefits you can gain from regular maintenance.

row of loading docks at a warehouse

What Kind of Benefits Come with Replacing Your Loading Dock Seals?

Ignoring loading dock door maintenance has many consequences that you might not have initially thought about. Energy loss, reduction in efficiency, risk to your employees – there are many different problems that can arise if you aren’t keeping up with your maintenance. Ensuring you stay up to date on your maintenance and service can provide you with many benefits, such as:

  • Reducing Your Energy Cost –This seal prevents energy loss from warm or cool conditioned air from escaping, which means your HVAC system doesn’t need to work as hard. Maintaining your loading dock seal or installing a new one that is properly applied will provide a much better seal around the trailer as it backs into it.
  • Protecting Your Employees and Products – A better seal helps to shelter your employees and products from adverse weather such as rain or snow or contaminants such as dust or bugs that can damage products and cause risky conditions for the workers.
  • Improving Your Efficiency – Using quality, well-maintained loading dock seals that match your needs can help improve your loading and unloading times. The wrong-sized unit can mean your workers don’t have full access to the trailer.
  • Passing Inspections and Audits – Inspectors will be looking for gaps in the seals around your loading dock during routine inspections. Keeping up with your maintenance can ensure you pass these inspections with flying colours.
forklift driver and supervisor at loading dock

Indicators That You Need Maintenance on Your Dock Loading Seals and Shelters

If you know what you’re looking for, you can easily identify signs that your loading dock seals need professional maintenance. These signs include:

It’s Showing Wear and Tear

Dock seals and shelters get worn out from use over time. They interact with semi-trailers, which back up onto them and compress them firmly into the enclosure. Forklifts loading the trailer cause the seal to move up and down and they drive over it. Repeating that process over time can lead to your loading dock seals degrading and developing tears, punctures, exposed foam, or sagging materials. Dock shelters can also be damaged by trailers, especially if they back into the dock off-centre.

There Are Noticeable Gaps Around Parked Trailers

When a trailer is parked at your loading dock, take a quick moment to inspect the seal that your enclosure is providing from inside your building. You should be looking for any light shining in through gaps around the trailer. It should be hard to miss.

A good seal provides a tight, effective, and dark seal along the sides and top of the trailer. If your enclosure is damaged and worn, it won’t be able to seal properly, leading to numerous air gaps around the trailer.

Changes in Operations and Trailers Used

It’s true that no changes are permanent, but change is, especially in business. You’re constantly looking for ways to improve operations, but your changes can affect your loading dock operations. If you’ve started welcoming trucks of varying sizes and types, or if you now need full-width access to the trailer, you should take a moment to assess your loading dock seals and loading dock shelters. If you use the wrong one for your loading dock, it can result in poor sealing and damage to your product and facility.

truck unloading at loading dock

Planned Maintenance Saves Money Long-term

The benefits of regular planned maintenance from a professional such as Creative Door Services™ should be fairly clear by now – while it may cost money upfront, it can save you a lot of money in the long run. Maintenance can find gaps in the seal that are costing you money on heating and cooling your facility and fix them, saving you money on energy costs. That also improves the comfort level of your loading dock, which means your employees can be more efficient and productive. Happy employees are productive employees, after all.

Our trained maintenance professionals can inspect your loading dock components for less obvious signs of wear and tear that are easy to fix now but could turn into big repair costs down the line. Scheduling regular planned maintenance service calls can help avoid problems and make your loading dock seals last much longer.

Wayne Dalton loading dock shelter

Creative Door Services™ Offers Service and Maintenance for Loading Dock Seals and More

Creative Door Services™ is a COR-certified company providing comprehensive maintenance and repair services for commercial and industrial loading dock equipment, including seals. We work closely with one of our suppliers, Wayne Dalton to ensure you have high-quality DALTONDOCK dock seals and DALTONDOCK ™ dock shelters in Western Canada that can hold up to the rigours of your daily operations. Contact us today to help set up a planned maintenance program for your building to help reduce operational downtime.

We carry a diverse selection of premium-quality products that can take care of your needs, whether you’re a large warehouse or a small commercial operation.

To learn more about our loading dock seal products or request a quote, contact us today. We’re happy to serve you from one of our eight locations. You can find us in Kelowna, British Columbia; Vancouver, British Columbia; Calgary, Alberta; Edmonton, Alberta; Fort McMurray, Alberta; Regina, Saskatchewan; Saskatoon, Saskatchewan; and Winnipeg, Manitoba.

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