J & J Snack Foods now entrusts the safety of loading dock employees at its Pennsauken, NJ warehouse to Castell's Salvo. The manufacturer and distributor of an expanding variety of nutritional snack foods and beverages for the food service and supermarket industries needed to implement a process on its loading docks that would protect employees against accidents associated with unscheduled truck departures.
"We'd had several near misses," explains Phil Heffelfinger, director of engineering, "and wanted to find a product that offered a high level of reliability and low maintenance." The previous safety system was often out of service and was expensive to maintain.
J & J called on its local distributor, Eastern Lift Inc. Ami Payne, an Eastern Lift dock specialist, introduced the company to Salvo's trapped key interlocking, a new approach to dock safety. Salvo locks out the trailer and then interlocks it with the dock door to ensure that the trailer can't be pulled out unless the door is closed and the dock attendant is safely inside the building. J & J purchased an automatic Salvo model and carried out a 90-day evaluation.
"We implemented the Salvo system and it worked very well for us," says John Fitzgerald, warehouse manager. "We now have Salvo on all our docks at the Pennsauken facility."
Aside from preventing unscheduled truck departure, Salvo offers additional benefits.
"Salvo will prevent drivers from backing into the wrong door and being loaded," says Fitzgerald, "which will save our company time and money." Since each Salvo lock is coded for a specific door, a driver would be prevented from inserting the wrong key into a control panel.
Safety -- and Savings
Another benefit identified by Heffelfinger is the savings realized on refrigeration costs from open dock doors: "Previously, our dock attendants would sometimes open a door prematurely while they waited for the driver to properly spot the trailer. Salvo will save us a lot of money on refrigeration costs as well. And, since some of the trailers are spotted or dropped at a door, Salvo also protects the trailer from being stolen."
J & J is now confident that the Salvo process it put in place is being followed, protecting drivers and dock attendants from accidents. The company was concerned about how drivers would react to this additional procedural step, but says that driver feedback has been positive.
"Salvo has been the reliable dock safety product we've been looking for and more," summarizes Phil Heffelfinger. J & J has a number of other plants at which it plans to adopt the Salvo process in 2006.
Salvo was developed in the UK by Castell Safety Int'l in conjunction with leading European logistics companies. Salvo is now available in North America through Castell's facility in Kentucky, with sales and installation provided through an experienced factory-trained dock-safety dealer organization.
