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New Sliding Nylon Dock Bumper From Thorworld Provides Longer Working Life With Improved Safety And Reduced Maintenance Costs
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Dock bumpers may be one of the smallest – and seemingly most insignificant – pieces of equipment in the loading bay, but they can increase safety and prevent considerable damage to both the vehicle and the infrastructure of the building.
Leading high quality loading and unloading equipment supplier Thorworld Industries Ltd has introduced its new sliding nylon dock bumper – not only does it last approximately four-times longer than standard nylon dock bumpers, but it also ensures that customers can enjoy years of cost-effective, shock-absorbing protection, with reduced vehicle repair and building maintenance costs.
So why are dock bumpers needed at all? Reversing a large vehicle up to a loading dock can be a difficult task, especially if the driver is unfamiliar with the particular premises and loading bay area. Misjudging the stopping distance is therefore an all too common occurrence, which causes the vehicle to ram into the dock and jolt the structure. And with a 30 tonne vehicle travelling at just 4mph, even reinforced docks can be damaged quickly, resulting in costly repairs – and that’s where Thorworld’s new sliding nylon dock bumpers come in.
The Thorworld sliding nylon dock bumper features a heavy-duty black powder-coated steel frame which is fixed to sound concrete or steelwork on the loading dock. The frame houses a solid block of nylon, and a unique fixing method (patent pending) enables the incorporation of a thick, heavy duty rubber packer at the rear to ensure maximum shock absorption. As a result the Thorworld sliding nylon dock bumper helps to reduce damage to both the building and the vehicle, as well as helping to protect any goods being carried.
What’s more, the innovative sliding design means that each bumper can be turned upside-down and back-to-front to ensure even wear, thus extending its lifespan by as much as four times that of a traditional nylon dock bumper and significantly more than that for conventional rubber dock bumpers.
Added to this, the sliding action helps to extend the bumper’s lifespan still further because the nylon can move with the vehicle thus minimising abrasion damage – making them ideal for use with air suspension trailers
The smooth front surface of the nylon, without any holes, also helps to protect both the vehicle and the bumpers themselves from potential damage that can occur when protruding objects on a vehicle get caught in the fixing holes on standard dock bumpers.
The standard 760mm (30″) long version is suitable to cover a wide range of vehicle heights for most standard applications, however they can be fitted above the loading dock with appropriate support and can also have corner cut-outs to allow unrestricted access to the vehicle in above dock applications.
Speaking about its new sliding nylon dock bumpers, John Meale, managing director of Thorworld Industries, said: “Without installing dock bumpers, an organisation with multiple loading bays could incur literally tens of thousands of pounds in repair bills every year and yet this damage is entirely preventable, simply by investing in a low cost piece of safety equipment.
“Our new sliding nylon dock bumper offers exceptional value-for-money and whilst the initial purchase cost might be slightly higher than for standard non-sliding versions, when the nylon wears in one area, you can simply rotate and reverse them, extending each bumper’s effective working life by up to four times. What’s more, once the steel framework is fixed in position, the nylon insert can then be easily changed or rotated in seconds – without the need for any special tools.”
Thorworld is firmly established as one of the foremost designers, manufacturers and suppliers to the loading bay and materials handling sectors and is recognised as both a market leader and innovator in the supply of quality engineered equipment.
The company provides a one-stop, single source for an extensive range of high quality loading bay and materials handling products, safety aids and accessories, including dock shelters and seals, dock levellers, modular loading docks, dock plates and boards, dock and vehicle bumpers, wheel chocks, vehicle restraints, traffic lights, wheel guides, alignment curbs and mobile yardramps (available for purchase or rental on a sale or return basis through the company’s RentARamp operation), together with the Truckloada mobile yardlift and the Dockloada scissor lift platform.
