MHI Solutions Improving Supply Chain Performance
BY TOM GRESHAM
IN JANUARY 2023, U.S. and Canadian laws surrounding rear‑impact guards for truck trailers changed, including a new requirement that guards must be able to withstand 35 mph rear‑impact crashes—up from 30 mph. Truck trailer manufacturers had to change the design of rear impact guards to meet the new requirement. However, they didn’t initially consider how those new designs would impact the hundreds of thousands of restraints already installed at loading docks throughout North America, according to Brett Lindstrom, director and GM, product management for dock equipment, Systems LLC.
While most of the restraints could work with the new designs, Lindstrom emphasized that the restraints had not been designed specifically for the new guards.
“That causes a potential risk,” he said. “It’s not to say that it was an immediate threat that needed immediate action, but it was a new risk. So why not close that risk?”
Lindstrom serves as the chair of LODEM, a trade industry group representing suppliers of loading dock equipment. Lindstrom said the LODEM members that manufacture restraints collaborated around the new rear guards issue. They communicated with truck trailer manufacturers, including sending representatives to meetings of the Truck Trailers Manufacturers Association, and shared information about the changes with the LODEM groups so that individual members could respond with design updates.
Although the LODEM members’ new designs were their own, the way that they collaborated and communicated together and with other interested parties made their designs and the industry‑wide reaction stronger, Lindstrom said.
“If it was just one company, you wouldn’t have enough of a voice to make an impact and to be heard,” Lindstrom said.
“But LODEM as a group makes up roughly 90% of loading dock equipment manufactured in North America, so together we have a voice that can be recognized and listened to.”
The rear guards update is only one of many safety‑related topics that LODEM and its members have tackled in recent years as their field rapidly evolves. Amanda Yaworsky, sales operations manager for DL Manufacturing, said the biggest LODEM‑related safety moves that she has seen in recent years involve advances in automation tech and integration with building management systems.
“Companies rely on data to inform them of safety trends like incident rate in different areas of the warehouse, and these are two of the areas of broad expansion I’ve seen in the loading dock space to gather data,” said Yaworsky, who is vice chair of LODEM. “Companies can then use traditional methods or AI to track patterns and develop solutions to critical concern areas.”
Lindstrom said there has been a heightened focus on new generation dock controllers.
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