How does a declining truck approach affect the Compression Seal or Shelter?
When the truck is backing downhill into the loading dock, the top of the truck will be closer to the wall than the bottom of the truck (we use the rule of thumb 1% slope equals 1″ difference in distance between the bottom and top of the truck and the building wall). In the case of a Compression Seal, if the top of the vertical pads is not tapered to account for the difference in distance from the wall, the top of the seal may be overcompressed. Conversely, if the truck is backing uphill, if the top of the vertical pads are not tapered out to adjust for this difference, the top of the verticals may not be compressed and, therefore, there is no sealing of the opening. Similarly, the slope should be accounted for in the design of a Truck Shelter. The Truck must penetrate the front curtains far enough so that the curtains are not in the truck opening, but are pushing against the sides and top of the truck. If, for example, the truck is backing uphill into the loading dock, the bottom of th
