Understanding Dock Levelers & Their Purposes

To understand dock levelers we must first understand the purpose. A dock leveler is intended to act as a bridge to safely allow for the transfer of goods from a trailer to the building and vice versa.

To best determine the type of leveler needed it is important to gain a full understanding of your needs. Many factors should go into the decision, such as the volume of use, gross weight transferred, type of material handling equipment used (forklift, hand loading, pallet truck, conveyor, etc.), size of product handling, and building layout are just a few.

Regarding cost, of course, the upfront cost is important but we see many paying less upfront (they really got a good deal!) but paying exponentially more over the life of the equipment due to a poor purchasing choice. Looking beyond the upfront cost and understanding the cost of ownership is very important. The other variable is safety, with the wide ranges and type of equipment available safety never has to be compromised.

Operation types can be broken down into three basic types: mechanical, air and hydraulic. There are hybrids of these which are often a great choice, for example a hydraulic leveler with a mechanical lip will work great in many applications.

Type of levelers:

• Edge of dock, low upfront cost but very limited service range.
• Top of dock, better range than an edge of dock at a slightly higher price.
• Pit style leveler. The most common type of dock and available in a multitude of sizes and capacities it works well in most situations.
• Flex-Lip levelers are the ultimate in smooth transition technology and greatly reduce operating costs by preventing worker compensation claims and forklift repair.
• Vertical storing leveler. A great choice for food facilities due the pit design. However than can be safety concerns with these, proper layout and employee training is critical. Also end loading can often be a challenge.
• Tele scoping lip levelers. These are the newest and latest in design and offer all of the advantages of a vertical storing leveler without the safety risks or the end loading challenges.
• Specialty levelers such as barrier lip pit levelers for added run-off protection or truck levelers which can lift the entire truck are also available.

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Whether you are replacing existing equipment or designing a new facility it is important to keep your long terms needs front and center when selecting the right piece of equipment.