Dock bumpers can help you protect your dock area, your dock equipment and trailers. Every product that enters and exits your warehouse or manufacturing plant flows through the dock, so it’s essential to protect it and keep all bays in good shape.

Types of Dock Bumpers

Typically, dock bumpers are installed so that a trailer or truck runs into the bumper before hitting your structure. This safeguards your building, your dock levelers and the trailer or truck that makes use of your dock.

There are quite a few varieties of dock bumpers, and picking an appropriate bumper can be consequential, depending on the workload of your dock operation. Adding overly-lightweight dock bumpers can sometimes result in an early demise, while using dock bumpers that are too heavy may be unproductive and may actually lead to difficulties when securing trucks and trailers.

All docks are different, so the style of dock bumpers you pick will be established by the average vehicle or trailer height, the approach, overall volume and several other factors. For docks where trucks or trailers are likely to tilt slightly or swing during loading or unloading movements, bumpers can be mounted in either a vertical or horizontal orientation.

Molded Bumpers (Light Duty): Dock bumpers built from molded rubber can supply protection for light duty loading docks. In addition, these bumpers are sometimes installed within a warehouse to protect doorways, walls and other structural components from forklifts and other material handling equipment.

Molded rubber is prone to chipping and gouging with heavy use and is not as wear resistant as other types of bumpers. If your loading dock does not receive a lot of traffic, they may be a practical option for your operation.

Laminated Bumpers (Medium Duty): Laminated bumpers have thicker pads than molded bumpers and afford superior shock absorption. They are fabricated from strips of old truck tires that have been cut to size and mounted between steel brackets.

These bumpers have a moderate capacity for wear resistance and are versatile when it comes to height, length and overall thickness. They are often used in operations equipped with pit-style dock levelers or edge-of-dock levelers, since they offer enduring protection for high traffic docks.

Steel Faced Bumpers (Heavy Duty): Steel faced bumpers are designed with a movable piece of steel that covers a standard laminate bumper, inhibiting heavy wear and tear on the laminated pads. The durable metal allows trailers to brush against the bumpers without deteriorating the rubber. Steel bumpers provide exceptional wear resistance, and usually last up to four times longer than uncovered laminate bumpers.

When Should Dock Bumpers Be Replaced?

While dock bumpers are designed to withstand repeated impact, they do deteriorate after steady use and need to be renewed every so often. There are some telltale signs that your dock bumpers should be replaced.

When you see wear of more than 50%, it's time for replacement. Worn pads do not provide adequate impact absorption capacity to safeguard your warehouse. Pads that are heavily worn will ultimately erode down to the metal plates that anchor them, and this will likely elicit avoidable damage to both brackets and trailers.

Apart from regular wear, you should look for further damage like splitting laminate layers, fractures, warped or corroding metal and other clear defects. It's a good idea to schedule bumper inspections, just as you would regularly inspect your levelers and other dock equipment.

Truck Dock Bumpers Near Me

For questions or a dock bumper price quote, get in touch with a loading dock equipment expert at Raymond West today.

Raymond West's San Diego facility serves all of San Diego County, including Carlsbad, Chula Vista, Downtown, El Cajon, Escondido, Fenton Carroll Canyon, Grantville, Kearney Mesa, Levanto, Morena, National City, Oceanside, Otay, Otay Mesa, Poway, San Marcos, Santee, Sorrento Mesa, Spring Valley, Vista and all surrounding areas.

Raymond West | San Diego Material Handling Equipment Supplier

8221 Arjons Dr # B2
San Diego, CA 92126
(858) 679-1800