Material Handling
4 Decisions to Make When Buying a Dockboard or Dockplate
What are the top four choices you must make when buying a dockboard or plate? Price, dimension, capacity, and safety.
Many customers choose these dock products based on price alone, but that is like buying a pair of shoes even if they don’t fit you. Price alone is not and should not be the ultimate determinate of buying a dockboard or any product.
Dimensions of a Dockboard: Industrial angle, length and width
In the case of a dockboard you have to consider dimensions along with price. In an industrial warehouse or other workspace there are two angles of incline that are safe for forklifts: an angle of 14% grade for a pallet jack or electric forklift and a 19% grade for a gas or diesel forklift.
If you called me on the phone and asked for a height difference of 4 inches then you’d need 42 inches in length for an electric forklift or pallet jack and 36 inches for a gas or diesel forklift because of the difference in angle of incline. The width of the dockboard depends on the machinery that will be used on it or the width of the truck. I mentioned earlier you would not buy a pair of shoes on price alone – you would need to consider the size before determining if it’s right for you. Dimensions are one of the various primary decision factors.
Capacity and Safety: Forklift versus Foot Traffic
Capacity is another primary decision factor in determining the purchase of a dockboard versus a dockplate. Safety of you and your employees are paramount. What’s the difference between a dockboard and dockplate you ask? Easy: Dockboards are made for forklifts whereas dockplates are made for foot traffic: walking, hand trucks or pallet jacks. Obviously, dockboards are designed to carry a much greater capacity than dockplates. This is one very important decision to factor in your purchase.
For expert advice on choosing the right dockboard or dockplate for your application call us at 800-876-(RAMP) 7267
It’s really interesting to learn that dockboards are made for heavy equipment to be driven on them and dockplates are made for foot traffic. With this in mind, I would imagine that construction docks would prefer dockboards and shipping docks would prefer dockplates. I wonder what other differences there are in dock equipment between shipping docks and construction ones.