Dock Door Maintenance vs. Repair - Which One Costs Less?

As you probably guessed, the title of this post is a rhetorical question. Roughly 99 times out of 100, the total cost to fix something is higher than the cost to maintain it properly – especially once you figure in downtime.

When you have planned maintenance, the dock door technician knows what parts need to be replaced and can service the door in about an hour. When a loading dock door unexpectedly stops working, the tech may need to order parts – which can take weeks or even months.

So what is your dock door maintenance strategy? We usually see one of three things:

What Is Your Dock Door Maintenance Strategy?

A. You’re on a regular maintenance plan with dock door experts coming to your warehouse two or more times a year to ensure everything is running smoothly and preventing problems before they begin.

B. Someone from your team takes care of maintenance. They may not be an expert, but you’re doing as much as you can to prevent major problems.

C. You’re crossing your fingers and hoping nothing bad will happen. You think about having regular maintenance done from time to time, but it never quite makes it high enough on the priority list to get scheduled. After all, you and your team have a hundred other tasks to complete each day, and there are no glaring problems needing your attention as far as you can tell. 

If you find yourself in category C (maybe even category B) you’re putting your operation at risk – especially if you only have one dock door. When the door isn't operational, no one will care that you saved a few hundred dollars or how busy you were.

Does your loading dock look more like the first example or the second?

Consequences of Avoiding Dock Door Maintenance

If, for whatever reason, your dock doors haven’t received the TLC they deserve, it’s just a matter of time until one or more of the following consequences will come knocking.

#1 Small Issues Become Expensive Repairs
A small crack in the concrete, a seal that’s not tight, a dock light that’s burnt out; these small issues are the start of big, expensive problems. Just like a cracked tooth or leaky faucet, you can’t let these things go. It just takes one truck pulling out too soon or one load to be dumped for major revenues to be lost. 

#2 Dock Safety is Compromised
We know you care about your team and want to avoid a tragic incident. Doors that don’t roll up properly and docks that aren’t aligned are an OSHA investigation waiting to happen.

#3 Imperfect, Undocumented Maintenance
We know you have great people on staff who are more than capable of checking the occasional issue. But when maintaining dock doors isn’t someone's primary duty, it’s not going to be a high priority.

Our dock door experts will ensure your equipment receives all the required inspections and maintenance. Should you ever need to provide proof your dock door was correctly maintained, you’ll have a complete service record at your fingertips.

#4 Efficiency Suffers
Making a driver spend extra time to jockey into position is frustrating – for your team members and the driver. The extra five minutes it takes the driver to reposition and line up properly multiplied over thousands of loads adds up to a lot of wasted time. Our loading dock door experts only need an hour to inspect and adjust your door, just one hour to save thousands of precious minutes.

#5 Decreased Credibility
An inefficient dock leaves drivers and external partners frustrated. In their mind, you know the load is coming, so you should have the loading dock doors ready and in good working order. When pickups and deliveries take longer than needed, it creates a negative impression of your business.

You work hard to be the best at what you do. Don’t let an avoidable problem blemish your company's reputation.

Affordable, Reliable Loading Dock Door Repair and Maintenance

Now that you know what could happen if you ignore or delay dock door maintenance, it’s time to take action. Contact the dock door experts at The Lilly Company today and learn how easy and affordable it is to establish regular maintenance. It just takes a simple phone call to get it all set up. 

Questions? Here’s my direct number:
Anthony Howell
The Lilly Company Dock and Door
901-370-9263

You can also contact one of our dock and door experts online or come see us at one of our 13 locations across the Mid-South.

Arkansas – Jonesboro
Alabama – Birmingham, Dothan, Irondale, Madison, Mobile, and Montgomery
Mississippi – Tupelo, and Richland
Tennessee – Jackson, Memphis, Knoxville, and Kingsport

Related Reading:
Dock Plate vs. Pit Leveler — What’s the Best Option?
5 Simple Ways To Improve Loading Dock Safety & Efficiency
5 Signs It’s Time To Call a Dock Leveler Repair Technician