Home / Services / Automatic Truck Loading and Unloading System
Operations leaders know that workers doing repetitive, manual tasks means risking injury, product damage, and backed-up supply chains. Automated truck loading and unloading systems eliminate repetitive work by utilizing conveyors and software programming to speed up your loading docks so you and your team can accomplish more.
When you’re shipping and receiving truckloads of goods, you need to do so quickly. The longer it takes you to receive and put away products or raw materials, the less flexibility you have to respond to orders as they come in. And with customers expecting orders faster than ever, you run the risk of disappointing customers when unprocessed orders are waiting to go out.
Unloading a truck manually takes time. An automatic loading and unloading system can do that same work in 10 minutes. ISD designs automated truck loading systems that reduce product damage, increase safety, and help you get more goods in and out of your facility, faster.
Automated truck loading and unloading systems are safer and more efficient, with conveyors and AGVs moving around heavy pallets instead of workers doing that labor. But it’s not just time they save, especially when used in conjunction with an automated transport and logistics (ATL) system. With more efficient loading docks, you can reduce the square footage of your docking area and use that space to fulfill more orders.
Congested loading docks with chaotic movement of people and forklifts means higher likelihood of accidents and injuries. Additionally, more labor and space are required to efficiently move goods out of the facility. Given that many manufacturing facilities follow fixed routes for transporting goods, such as from the factory to the client’s warehouse or from production to distribution facilities, automating the loading and unloading process with ATL systems becomes a leading solution. Automated solutions that significantly reduce your labor needs at the dock door include:
Conveyorized trailers. For trucks to facilitate automated loading and unloading processes, it's essential that their trailers are fitted with conveyors to transport goods from the factory floor onto the trucks for shipment. ISD works with leading conveyorized trailer manufacturers to identify the optimal solution for your operation and seamlessly integrate it into your current systems.
Robotic truck unloaders. These machines take over some of the hardest, most repetitive work in your operation. Mobile, programmable bases and robotic arms fitted with different grips are designed to unload materials as they come in, placing them safely on a conveyor to be delivered into your facility. Sensors reduce product damage from incorrect material handling and sort as needed to keep goods moving.
AGVs. Automation solutions fit together like puzzle pieces. Many automated truck loading and unloading systems work with autonomous guided vehicles (AGVs) to get products to and from the docking area safely. If the routing process is manually repeated within your operational framework, an AGV can seamlessly undertake this task.
Automating the manual, inefficient parts of your manufacturing operation enables you to meet customer expectations, including just-in-time orders and complicated customization.
Every warehouse is different. An automated truck loading and unloading system that works in a manufacturing facility, where trucks go back and forth to the same set locations, might not work in a distribution facility that is working with multiple carriers to send packages all over the country. That’s why ISD adapts automation systems to fit your warehouse.
Automated scales / cube: by integrating in-motion scales and cubic measuring technologies, automated systems can validate order accuracy, determine actual shipping weight, and even help calculate dimensional weight charges.
Imagine a distribution center where workers are manually carrying packages in and out of a truck, two or three at a time. Making dozens of trips from the loading dock into the truck is tiring, strenuous work. Now picture a conveyor that extends from carrier trucks into your facility. Instead of walking 40 feet for each package, workers can efficiently grab, load, and turn to take the next in just three steps.
With automated truck loading systems reducing the need for workers to handle manual pallet loading and forklift traffic, you’ll be able to widen your search for team members — and offer them better, safer job opportunities
With a product mix spanning thousands of items, the automation driving your warehouse operation needs to be custom. As the products sent and received will vary for each shipment, human operators are crucial in overseeing operations — but conveyors can reduce the manual workload. That allows goods to get out the door faster.
Custom conveyors combined with truck management software reduce loading times across containers, trailers, and carriers.
Labels do matter. Peak performance with the right partner. For an automated labeling system that simplifies your operation as you grow, talk to ISD. We’ve worked in warehouses of all sizes and on projects of all budgets. We do what we say and we’re there when you need us. Let us get the small things right — including your labels.
