Dock Design

Dock Design Factors:

Factors effecting the dock type and location design of the warehouse.
- Climate
- Weather conditions
- Land availability
- Security
- Delivery truck traffic flow
- Safety
- Available funds
- Type of delivery vehicle
- Type of Load


Dock Design Concepts

These concepts could be take consideration after analysing of your warehouse/distribution centre needs.

Flush Dock Design

There are two designs for Flush Dock, the Cantilever and vestibule.

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  Cantilever Flush Dock

This type of flush dock is actually creating a hole in the building wall together with a dock door and seal along the outside of the door frame. Cantilever flush dock requires a dock leveler with a truck ICC bar-restraining device.

For the unloading process, the vehicle is backed up to the building wall and secured against the dock seal. However the trailer remains outside the building, the driver will have to enter the building through an entrance. Within the facility, the dock staging area is open to the warehouse storage area.

When the warehouse/distribution centre is on grade level (the ground floor is level to the land), then a flush dock with a depressed driveway is used to provide the optimal dock position. The loading area is depressed to create the proper height between the edge of the dock and the rear of the truck load.

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  Vestibule Flush Dock

The vestibule dock has an open area between the exterior of the facility wall and a second interior wall (storage area wall). From the storage area there is a door for pedestrian and traffic doors for forklift to enter and exit. This type of design requires a large square foot area.

Open Dock Design

The open dock design can be considered the cheapest design for the warehouse. It consists of a concrete platform that extends outwards from the exterior building wall.


Semi-closed Dock design

Dock curtains/ sliding panels are fixed on dock perimeter to create a solid barrier between the dock area and the truck well.

When required for unloading/loading, the dock curtains/ sliding panels will open to allow the activities to be performed.


Enclosed Dock Design

For this design, the loading area (the combined length of tractor and trailer) is inside the building. On the exterior, it consist a set of doors that controls the entry to the dock which is inside.

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  Side-Entrance Enclosed Dock

There are two sets of doors (one at each side of the building ) the truck loading/unloading, maneuvering activities are inside the building. There is only one way delivery traffic flow within the building (“in one door from the right and out through the second door on the left. This design accommodates the staggered dock design but he cost of establishing this design is relatively high.

• 
  Straight-in-Entrance Enclosed Dock

There is one exterior door for each dock position/ one extra large wide exterior door for two truck dock positions. This design provides shorter truck loading lane that permits the trailer to be dropped inside the enclosed area.

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  Side loading/ Finger Dock

This design is used mainly for flatbed truck or open-sided van. This design is a cutout from the building interior floor. The cutout in created inwards from building exterior to the dock staging area.

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  Drive-through Facility Design

The drive through design is used for flatbed truck/ opened sided vans. Lift trucks/ over head cranes are needed to unload/load products from and onto the flatbed trailer. This design requires a one-way flow through the facility.

• 
  Staggered ( saw tooth) Dock Design

This design is preferred when there is limited maneuvering area. It requires a one-way flow the matches the angle of the staggered dock positions. The staggered dock requires either a clockwise or anti clock wise flow pattern.

In addition, the loading area must be level as the dock, or the trailer will not be able to line up with the edge of the dock. However, the disadvantages is that it need roughly twice the building dock space for fewer docks and an increase in the construction requirements and costs.

Pier Dock Design

This design is adopted when the dock side of the building has insufficient wall space, or the interior layout does not allow construction of a dock area.

For this design, a section of the building extends outward from the building. Dock positions are located on each side of the extension. The width allows a lift truck turning aisle to the dock levelers and two-way lift truck traffic on the dock. Using this design, there is a tractor-trailer maneuvering area on both sides of the dock.

Free Standing Dock (Dock House) Design

To increase dock positions in a low-or small volume operation with limited interior space inside the building, a freestanding dock extension is constructed on the building wall. The Dock house is a platform with a dock leveler that extends outwards from the building and is enclosed with metal/ plastic panels.