Vehicle Restraints
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Trailer Separation Accidents at the Loading Dock
Rite-Hite's approach to reducing loading dock accidents combines equipment with an integrated digital software platform, effectively mitigating risks — trailer creep, early departure and landing gear collapse. This comprehensive strategy addresses specific challenges to enhance safety and prevent loading dock accidents.
Every loading dock is at risk for trailer separation accidents, which primarily involve a forklift, material handler and truck. Almost 900,000 forklifts are in operation in the United States, and facilities have a 1-in-10 chance that each forklift will be involved in a loading dock accident this year.
While forklifts are a heavy-duty piece of industrial equipment made for wear and tear, 80% of those reported accidents involve a pedestrian. One in every six workplace deaths in the U.S. is forklift related.
So regardless of how durable the equipment is, facilities need to put measures in place to safeguard their most valuable assets — their employees.
Studies report that 7% of forklift accidents occur when material handling equipment drives or falls off the dock’s edge. OSHA addressed trailer separation accidents in 1978 when they mandated the use of wheel chocks to restrain trailers to the loading dock. Standard (29 CFR 1910.178(k)(1) and (m)(7)) was amended in 1981, one year after the introduction of the original Dok-Lok®, to include “mechanical means” as a preferred alternative to wheel chocks.
Even with OSHA mandates in place, facility safety managers must understand that workplace safety is a dynamic field with regulations and best practices changing over time. For a loading dock to be safe, it’s imperative that facility leaders stay up to date with information while prioritizing safety measures to help prevent traditional trailer separation and dropped trailer accidents:
1. Trailer Creep, also known as dock walk, is the result of repeated impact from lift trucks loading and unloading. This causes the trailer to edge (or “creep”) away from the dock. Simple wheel chocks fail to properly address this concern as they can slip, get misplaced, be pushed or pulled out of the way, or — most importantly — require boots on the ground.
2. Early Departure, also known as aggressive pullout, occurs when a truck driver mistakenly drives away while a lift truck is entering, leaving or still inside the trailer. This trailer separation accident is caused by improper trailer restraints and lack of full-time loading dock communication.
3. Landing Gear Collapse, also known as trailer tip-over, occurs when a spotted (dropped) trailer’s landing gear leg collapses. If the leg rolls inward or outward, it causes the trailer to tip sideways — which could be catastrophic to any material handling equipment, products and personnel inside the trailer.
4. Trailer Pop-Up or Up-Ending, occurs when product being loaded or unloaded plus a forklift’s weight causes the trailer to shift to the nose or rear. This accident type most commonly occurs when loading a dropped trailer, since the cab is no longer present to help counterbalance the trailer’s weight.
Each of these distinct types of potential trailer separation accidents can be attributed to specific factors, emphasizing the need for improved safety measures beyond traditional simple wheel chocks.
Choosing the Rite Loading Dock Equipment.
It’s important to understand application needs when selecting proper loading dock equipment configuration, which is essential to address trailer separation accidents. For example, understanding your facility's current load styles — either dropped, live or both — can greatly impact your vehicle restraint selection and ultimately the amount of accident protection that your equipment provides.
In a dropped loading scenario for example, the team must ensure counterbalancing measures as the cab is no longer present to do so. Trailer type plays an important role to load style as all trailers are not created equal, some have liftgates, various tire diameters, obstructed RIGs, etc.
The Rite Solution.
With a facility's application needs identified, managers can then choose the right combination of loading dock solutions to address trailer separation accidents. The critical pieces of equipment that are part of the greater solution, include:
- Dok-Lok® Vehicle Restraints were designed with years of research and development in direct response to the rise of reported trailer separation accidents. Dok-Loks continue to provide the highest quality of safety and security for any loading dock application, expanding to four main product categories: rotating hooks, vertical barriers, stabilizing and wheel-based. A dock survey is completed for each dock position before purchase to ensure it is applied with all measurements and variables considered. If a facility chooses a vertical barrier- or wheel-based restraint and drops loads, they should use a trailer stand during loading to help prevent vertical separation accidents (landing gear collapse and up-ending).
- Full-Time Loading Dock Communication is standard with all Dok-Lok vehicle restraint purchases. The system provides active restraint status to material handlers inside and truck drivers outside to help prevent early departure accidents. It can be extended to the upper and lower corners of the dock position with a line-of-sight light communication system.
- Interlocked Equipment Programmed into Safe Sequence of Operations helps prevent dock workers from operating equipment in the wrong sequence. If operated out of safe order, the dock position could be at risk for trailer separation accidents, equipment damage and worker injury. One example of safe sequence is requiring a vehicle restraint to engage the trailer (green light inside) before a facility can open the dock door and place the leveler into the trailer bed.
- The Rite-Hite ONE Digital Platform connects loading dock equipment to a centralized, cloud-based dashboard for real-time visibility and data analytics. Facility managers can monitor equipment status, track usage patterns, receive maintenance alerts and analyze safety compliance trends across all dock positions to help drive accountability, reduce downtime and support continuous improvement initiatives.
Rite Here for You.
Regardless of equipment selection and application needs, a crucial step is partnering with someone who understand the challenges of today and tomorrow’s loading docks. Rite-Hite provides years of dedicated experience in equipment design and application, backed by industry-leading warranties. We're prepared to help reduce trailer separation accidents at any dock. Partner with a loading dock expert to learn more.
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