Trailer Jack Stands Questions and Answers

Trailer jack stands are heavy-duty equipment that supports a trailer’s front end when it’s not connected to a rig during unloading/loading at a dock. This vital dock safety equipment can feature up to a 100,000-pound static capacity. Top-quality models of ratchet jacks have lifting capacities of up to 40,000 pounds. The trailer jack stands prevents upending when positioned under the front end of an unattached trailer at a loading dock. Trailer upending in many cases is caused when the trailer’s landing gear collapses, often due to rust damage. Some excellent trailer jack stands feature dual handles, which allow the units to be moved with hand-truck-like ease. Other top trailer jack stands feature semi-pneumatic wheels, which increase the jack stand’s mobility in the loading dock area.

Simply put, trailer jack stands are recommended for safety, please refer to OSHA 1910.178(m)(7). There are many potentially dangerous occurrences that, unfortunately, are all too common at loading dock areas throughout the country. In addition to rollaway trucks and trailer creep, another potentially injury-causing dock-area occurrence is trailer upending. This is defined as a semi-trailer, when detached from its rig, suddenly tilting in a front-end-down, rear-end-up position. Upending that occurs while the trailer is parked at a dock can hurt employees handling stock inside the trailer, and, in worst-case scenario, can cause a forklift driver to take a very dangerous fall if he should be making a trailer-dock crossing when the trailer’s rear portion pops up. The trailer jack stands are a vital piece of material handling equipment that prevents trailer upending from occurring.

The loading dock naturally is a very important area of a business that ships and receives large amounts of products. It’s vital to these businesses that their loading docks operate with maximum efficiency, and, moreover, with maximum safety. In particular, businesses that operate large, very busy loading dock areas must be even more diligent about dock safety, because increased dock traffic flow clearly raises the odds of accidents occurring. Because of this, it is essential that businesses with large, high-traffic loading docks equip their dock areas with all equipment that’s been proven to help maximize dock-area safety. Please take a few moments to read the following brief article to learn about trailer jack stands and other essential pieces of dock safety equipment that can combine to dramatically reduce the chance of accidents in your loading dock area and significantly increase your business’ cost-effectiveness and overall efficiency. It is the customer’s responsibility to verify correctness of fit for applications.