Dock plates are designed to allow cargo moving equipment to access a truck or trailer at a loading dock and facilitate cargo transfer.
Dock plates are available in a variety of configurations, and commonly are found either in a dock pit or on a building wall. This would be a typical dock leveler and an edge of dock leveler.
A regular dock leveler sits inside of a pit. It is flush with the dock floor when stored and allows for greater variance in trucks that your dock serves. They are more versatile and are engineered in higher weight capacities.
An edge of dock leveler most often is installed on the edge of a door opening without a dock pit. They are common on trucking terminals and have strict variances in the trucks they serve. Edge of dock plates are not engineered in high weight capacities.
Edge of dock levelers have far fewer components that make them operate. They pull back and push out to operate, with springs to counter the weight of the plate. Edge of dock plates are a step up from portable platforms like dock boards.
To determine which product best suits your loading dock, ask yourself these questions:
What trucks arrive at my loading dock? What is the height variance of these trucks? What is the load capacity and weight of the cargo moving equipment at my dock?
Edge of dock plates are limited to 5” above or below floor to the truck bed, and have a maximum capacity of 35,000# CIR (approximately 14,000# roll-over capacity).
A regular dock leveler is available in capacities over 80,000# CIR with an above/below floor range of 12” to the truck or trailer bed. They are the preferred equipment at a generic loading dock to capture the widest range of trucks and loads.
You can learn more about the different types of dock levelers at this link.
