Dock bumpers can help you protect your building, your dock equipment and trailers. Every product that enters and exits your warehouse or manufacturing facility flows through the dock, so it’s important to maintain it and keep every bay in good condition.

Types of Dock Bumpers

Typically, dock bumpers are positioned so that a trailer or truck "bumps" against them rather than against your structure. This helps to protect your facility, your dock levelers and the trailer or truck that makes use of your loading dock.

There are numerous varieties of dock bumpers, and picking a suitable bumper can be consequential, depending upon the volume of your loading dock. Installing dock bumpers that are too light can lead to an early demise, while installing dock bumpers that are excessively heavy duty will be unproductive and may actually create troubles when securing trailers and trucks.

The kind of dock bumpers you choose will be established by the approach, average trailer or vehicle height, daily volume and a variety of other variables. For loading docks where trucks or trailers have the potential to tilt slightly or swing during loading or unloading movements, bumpers can be attached horizontally or vertically.

Molded Bumpers (Light Duty): Dock bumpers built from molded rubber can supply defense for low-traffic loading docks. In addition, molded bumpers can be used within a warehouse to protect doorways, walls and other building components from lift trucks and other equipment.

Molded rubber is can’t take as much abuse as other styles of dock bumpers and may chip or gouge over time. They may be a workable option for your operation if your dock doesn’t get a lot of truck traffic.

Laminated Bumpers (Medium Duty): Laminated bumpers have improved shock absorption capacity because they have more substantial pads. They are constructed from strips of old truck tires that have been cut to size and mounted between steel brackets.

They have a medium capacity for wear resistance and are adaptable when it comes to height, length and overall thickness. They are frequently applied in operations configured with pit-style dock levelers or edge-of-dock equipment, since they offer prolonged protection for high volume docks.

Steel Faced Bumpers (Heavy Duty): Steel faced loading dock bumpers are designed with a sliding piece of steel that overlays a conventional laminate bumper, stopping excessive erosion of the layered pads. The steel permits trailers to press against the bumpers without degrading the rubber. Steel faced bumpers provide exceptional wear resistance, and generally are in service more than four times as long as uncovered laminate bumpers.

When Should Dock Bumpers Be Replaced?

While dock bumpers are intended to withstand impact, they do deteriorate after sustained use and need to be renewed from time to time. There are a few telltale signs that your dock bumpers need to be refreshed.

When the pads are worn by 50% or more, it's time for replacement. The impact absorption capacity of worn out pads is simply not enough safeguard your warehouse. Overly worn pads will eventually expose the metal plates that secure them, and this will likely elicit needless damage to both trailers and brackets.

Apart from regular wear, you should keep an eye out for other damage like splitting laminate layers, cracking, bent or rusting metal and other obvious deficiencies. Scheduled bumper inspections are a practice, just as you would regularly inspect your levelers and other dock equipment.

Truck Dock Bumpers Near Me

For dock bumper questions, inspection or replacement, contact a dock equipment professional at Raymond West today.

Raymond West's Los Angeles facility serves much of Los Angeles County, including Santa Fe Springs, Whittier, La Mirada, Downey, Pico Rivera, Los Angeles, Montebello, El Monte, Rosemead, Alhambra, South Gate, Lynwood, Compton, Westmont, Gardena, Torrance, Carson, San Pedro, La Habra, City of Industry, Walnut, Inglewood, Hawthorne and all surrounding areas.

Raymond West | Los Angeles Material Handling Equipment Supplier

9939 Norwalk Blvd
Santa Fe Springs, CA 90670
(562) 944-8067