Manual Trailer Restraints Are Vital Dock Safety Equipment
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As managers of industrial businesses know very well, a vitally necessary aspect of operating such a business is investing in all the proper safety equipment that’s appropriate for your facility. This often includes equipment of many varieties, everything from hard hats and earplugs to warning signs and slip-resistant matting. In addition, thousands of industrial facilities nationwide possess the same type of work area that can be particularly prone to injury-causing accidents: the loading dock area. Loading docks can be especially susceptible to serious mishaps, with the key reason being that very large trucks and semi trailers, sometimes several at a time, are moving into, out of, and throughout the area. There is excellent safety equipment available that’s specifically designed for use with trucks in loading dock areas. Please take a few moments to learn about the manual
trailer restraints, a vital piece of loading dock safety equipment.
Clearly one of the most potentially hazardous occurrences in any loading dock area is a roll-away truck, that is, a parked truck beginning to roll away from the loading dock because of a gear slippage or brake failure. A roll-away truck can cause serious injury and sometimes even a fatality. One key function of the manual
trailer restraint is to keep this type of potential tragedy from occurring. Manual
trailer restraints, also sometimes called
mechanical dock restraints or
manual dock locks, are
material handling equipment designed to securely hold truck or semi trailer in place while it’s parked at a loading dock. The
mechanical dock restraint is mounted directly to the front of the dock and latches onto the trailer’s ICC, holding the vehicle firmly in place.
Top-quality manual
trailer restraints feature restraining forces of 50,000 pounds, enabling them to ensure that the vehicle remains completely stationary at the dock until the cargo loading/unloading is done and the driver has been given a clear go-ahead to pull away. In addition to preventing roll-away trucks, the
trailer restraint, when coupled with the use of a trailer jack stand, also prevents trailer upending – a mishap that can occur at a dock area when a trailer is separated from its rig. Typically caused when a heavy load is placed at the trailer’s front end, trailer upending occurs when the front end lowers, causing the rear end to rise up from the dock platform. Trailer upending can be dangerous to forklift drivers who may be making the trailer-dock crossing at the time.
Trailer creep is an additional potentially dangerous occurrence that
manual truck restraints are designed to prevent. Trailer creep is a term for the gradual, inch-by-inch moving of a trailer away from a dock during loading/unloading. This movement is typically caused by the momentum of repeated forklift crossings from the truck bed to the dock. The trailer creep movement can create a gap that a forklift, with driver on board, may fall forward into, possibly causing serious injury. Trailer restraints keep this from happening via the firm grip they provide between the dock and the rear portion of the trailer.
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