Safe unloading procedures

A few things popped into my mind when I read this.

First and foremost, make sure your lift gates are well maintained, and checked regularly. Should be a part of your driver's daily pretrip. Any, I mean ANY type of unusual behavior, slow to raise, unusual noises, etc. should put that trailer out of service until the unit can be properly checked.

Make sure that your lift gate is rated above the weight you are putting on it.

Make sure that whatever means you are using to move your freight has a way to secure it to the lift gate. Carts, as you mentioned, should have wheel brakes, and as you also mentioned can be chained. But make sure that the carts are loaded proportionally. Don't over load one side and under load the other.

If using a pallet jack, make sure all drivers know to drop the pallet to the lift gate before moving the lift gate. If load is palletized, make sure the load is stable.

When it comes to keeping folks clear of the lift gate area, this can be kind of hard to do. Some folks are just too stupid to realize what is going on. Having a store employee stand by to keep the area clear can help. So can those small orange cones that are used in stores to warn about wet floors.

Finally though, sooner or later, there is going to be a problem. It's just a part of life. Make sure your workers comp and liability insurance are adequate and paid up.

Edited to include another thought: If at all possible, have your trucks parked on a level surface when using the lift gate. I know it is not always possible, but if it is, use it.

 

What size plant/container are you shipping??

Every nursery load I hauled out of Florida, the product goes in the truck via a portable conveyor belt. Each plant is wrapped in brown paper to protect it. They build cheap disposable racks out of 2x2's and OSB/plywood for the smaller plants. 1-2 gallon bushes or other sturdy plants are stacked on top of each other for about 4 rows before a plywood break. (Pot on top of middle of 2 pots). Big containers/trees are free standing.
It's an assembly line of sorts. Plants come from fields/greenhouses on farm trailers, From there they are wrapped and put on the conveyor belt. 3-4 will be in the truck loading and building racks.

The driver tailgates the load and the receiver/store has their workers taking it off the back of the truck. No lift gate needed.
I've had orders going to small plant places with one worker that worked the ground while I tailgated. A customer that receives large orders like a big plant store or Home Depot or similar, they will have many people to help and 3-4 will get up in the truck and help the poor driver tailgate. They'll use their own equipment, carts, forklift/pallets, wheelbarrow on the ground to move the stuff around.

If you have the same customers and have no back haul, you could recycle the wood. We throw it away as the cost is hidden in the price.

If you have a small box truck, I would let the customer supply the carts, etc. for use and you could tailgate from the truck to them. You could even build permanent racks in the truck for smaller containers.


The rack and liftgate thing will always be dangerous as the racks are probably top heavy. You can secure the bottom with chains but it can always topple over as the driver has to use one hand to operate the gate while holding the rack with his other hand. Maybe you can get in the habit of loading the heavy stuff on the bottom of the rack and lighter stuff on top.

 

And it takes a heck of a lot less time than cleaning up a mess, having damaged freight, and possibly personal injury.

 

Another option is to get a motorized lift hand truck which will avoid the need for a tailgate, they are very cool!

 

I have done this job once when my company was slow so they "volunteered" me to go help a local greenhouse nearby. Never again...