Planning Doors, Levellers and Vehicle Access at a Logistics Facility
Published:
Publisher: Alkur Kapı Sistemleri A.Ş.
Summary
At a logistics facility, doors and loading equipment are planned together with the flow of vehicles. Three items govern: leveller capacity and pit preparation on the dock line, daily cycle load on the door side, and the barrier and detection arrangement at vehicle entry. All three are settled before the concrete.
In a warehouse or distribution centre, doors are the hardest-working mechanical parts of the building. On a shift-based despatch line the same door opens and closes hundreds of times a day, and that intensity governs selection more than any product feature does. This article lists what to look at when planning doors, levellers and the vehicle entry lane at a logistics facility.
The dock line: capacity and pit
The first decision on a leveller is capacity, and it comes as two figures. Dynamic load (6,000 kg) is the load in transit across the leveller; static load (9,000 kg) is the limit for a stationary load. The calculation takes the forklift’s own weight plus the load it carries: a 2.5 tonne forklift carrying a 2 tonne pallet reaches 4.5 tonnes, with the dynamic effects of manoeuvring on top.
There are two standard platform sizes: 2,000 × 2,500 mm for compact operations and 2,000 × 3,000 mm for long forklift forks and pallet manoeuvring. The recommended range for rise and fall is +32 / −32 cm; whether the difference between your dock level and the bed height of your vehicles falls within it should be checked at project stage.
Before the pit concrete is poured
On logistics projects the most expensive mistake is made in construction, not in procurement. The pit detail must reach the construction team at project stage: an 80 × 80 mm angle anchor around the perimeter, a 50 mm cable duct for the hydraulic unit supply, pit dimensions and corner squareness confirmed before the pour, and drainage on open docks. Because the pit detail is identical for hinged and telescopic lips, the lip decision does not hold up construction.
Lip type and trailer variety
If your fleet runs fixed bed sizes, the hinged type is both sufficient and mechanically simpler, with a flap of 300 – 400 mm. If you work with varying trailer depths, or vehicles cannot berth fully against the dock, the telescopic type is required: the lip is 600 mm as standard and 1,000 mm optional, and that option allows loading even where the trailer stands a metre away.
The hinged type also offers single or three-section (1+2) lips. A single section works faster on standard despatch; three sections allow vehicles of differing heights to be aligned across a wider range.
The door side: cycle load comes before product features
On despatch doors, selection follows usage intensity more than dimensions. Spring cycle life is 15,000 cycles as standard, with 25,000, 50,000 and 100,000 cycle alternatives available on request. On a door running 40 cycles a day, that is the difference between roughly one year and seven.
The same logic runs on the motor side. Where the control unit’s duty cycle is given as S2 20 percent, the motor can run under load for at most 2 minutes in every 10; if one cycle takes 30 seconds, that comes to four cycles per 10 minutes. On a door running back to back at shift changeover the limit fills quickly and the thermal protection trips and stops the door.
This is why the quotation stage asks for cycles at peak hour rather than a daily average; despatch clusters into certain hours and the average misleads.
Internal passages and speed
In forklift corridors inside the warehouse, and on passages between the picking area and the despatch hall, speed governs. A high-speed PVC door reaches 1.5 m/s with an inverter, reducing both waiting time and the passage of dust and heat under heavy forklift traffic.
At facilities with a temperature separation (cold rooms, controlled environments), the internal door is also assessed on insulation; we covered that in detail in our cold chain article.
The vehicle entry lane
At the site entrance, a barrier calls for planning separate from the doors:
Arm length is not taken as equal to the passage width; allowance must remain on the far side when the arm is closed. Single lanes use 4.25 – 5.25 m, dual lanes and truck entrances 6.25 – 7.25 m.
Auto-close delay is adjustable between 5 and 90 seconds and, at peak hour, affects real waiting time more than arm speed does.
Loop detector senses vehicles through a frame set into the floor; the channel is cut 3 cm wide and 5 cm deep with the cable wound 5 turns. Where entry and exit lanes sit side by side, different frequencies are selected.
Weighbridge and queuing — the number of vehicles waiting on the weighbridge lane sets the barrier position and the close delay; if the queue reaches the door, despatch flow stops.
What to establish, in order
- How many docks are there, and how many vehicles berth at each per day?
- Does the fleet run fixed bed sizes, or does trailer depth vary?
- Is the difference between dock level and vehicle bed height within +32 / −32 cm?
- What is the cycle count at peak hour on the despatch doors?
- Is there a temperature separation on the internal passages?
- Will the entry use a weighbridge, plate recognition or card access?
Send us the dock count, the vehicle profile and the cycle intensity, and we can size the whole line together.
