Essential Loading Bay Accessories for Your Facility

Loading bays are an essential part of any business facility focused on the commerce of goods. Warehouses and industrial sites need smoothly running bays to ensure items can pass in and out without a hitch.

While there are various pieces of equipment, such as levellers and doors, that every bay needs, many operators can neglect the importance of additional loading bay accessories.

Accessories are the little, relatively inexpensive installations that you might not know you need until you have them. This piece will highlight some of the best choices for your loading bay or facility, ensuring operations remain smooth and safe.

Loading bay traffic lights

Warehouses are increasingly being used for widespread logistics operations, rather than being used by one or two businesses at a time. With this in mind, many loading bays will see visits from countless vans and drivers every single day, whether picking things up or dropping them off. That’s why loading bay traffic lights are so essential – providing positive control of vehicles in bays during loading and unloading. These lights can often be connected to doors and sensors, automating them without compromising on safety.

Loading dock bumpers & pads

Even with traffic lights, you can expect that loading bays will experience some vehicle contact a few times a day. This is especially true when vans are loading and unloading larger, heavier items that need to be carefully shifted indoors. Dock bumpers absorb the impact of vehicle contact, maintaining the integrity of the bay itself, as well as protecting the vehicle in question.

Dock pads

Dock pads act as an additional level of support with bumpers. They act as a compressible supplement layer on the edge of the bumpers, allowing the vehicle to make full contact. This supports even safer loading and unloading while helping to protect the bumpers themselves.

Dock lights

Van drivers often work fairly long days of up to 11 active hours, not counting breaks. This, along with irregular scheduling, means the drivers could be arriving at your loading bay in any sort of lighting conditions, especially in the seasonal differences of the UK. Manually or remote-controlled loading dock lights are a great addition to any loading bay, helping to keep obstructions illuminated for drivers at any time. They also allow for goods to be inspected in darker conditions.

Wheel guides

Floor-mounted wheel guides for loading bays are another vital accessory designed to ensure the safe reversal of cargo vans. Of course, you can generally trust drivers to understand their path, but with so many vehicles in one space, things can occasionally go a little skewiff. Wheel guides are a powerful tool for keeping vehicles aligned with lifts and levellers time and time again.

Protection posts

Posts for dock levellers and doors are one of the most effective forms of protection – standing sturdily in the way of equipment and operators alike. They can come in various forms, such as:

• Door goalposts
• Central protection posts
• Standard protection posts
• Barrier protection posts.

With different formats and styles available, loading bays of various shapes and sizes can be effectively protected from deliveries and pickups of all kinds.

Finding the right loading bay accessories

If you’re looking for the right place to purchase loading bay equipment and accessories, it’s important to seek out an internationally recognised brand with plenty of experience and a stellar reputation. From smaller accessories like lights to larger pieces of equipment like dock shelters, you need to trust that your stock and your employees are operating in a working space that you can feel safe in and proud of.