Truck Well Design

[gjeppesen]

I have a client that needs a truck well designed. He needs a 48' long flat bottom and accepts 53' long trailers. What grade can I get away with for the sloped part of the truck well?

 

[civilperson]

A vertical cure is required to prevent bottoming out at the center of the trailer when going over the hump and at the sag for the overhang. Make a template and profile curve to scale to assure success. Anything steeper than 12% will require heated and tined pavement for traction during snow.

 

[Ron]

One other problem is that of the angle of the trailer at the loading dock. You can use dock levelers, but if fork lifts have to go into the trailer, they tend to slip and slide when the slope gets above about 6 to 8 percent.

 

[PELS]

There is some applicable information in these links:

http://www.eng-tips.com/viewthread.cfm?qid=81661

http://home.rmci.net/xtreme/bumpers/approach.html

 

[gjeppesen]

We're in Florida so don't have to worry about snow. Leading grocery retailer has typical 48' flat then sloping up about 11% on all of the facilities I've seen.