What is a Dock Shelter and the Various Types in Miami-Dade, FL?

It is important to consider the pros and cons of your business. But when it comes to transporting your goods from the warehouse to the trucks for delivery, we always ensure that we have essential loading dock equipment that can increase the efficiency of the whole process and make it safer and more profitable.

What is a Dock Shelter?

Dock shelter seals off the gaps between the docked vehicles to the loading bay. It provides full access to the truck without exposing the product into the wind, extreme temperature and weather and pests that may cause unnecessary impact to the product being transported. Using this will ensure your energy savings, as it maintains the temperature inside the building, cleanliness and increases the speed of manpower through efficient transport of goods to the loading trucks.

A lot of companies offer loading dock shelters that can be useful, but each dock shelter has advantages and disadvantages that make it difficult to choose.

There are different types of dock shelters in Miami-Dade that Overhead Door Company of South Florida, a division of DuraServ, offers where you can choose from. They are listed as follows:

· Serco S2200 Ultra Shelter

With its seal flexibility, and full trailer access of a shelter. It has a tight seal between the wall of the building and the back of the truck. Designed with impactable foams side members, in each side and head curtain/member is made with fiberglass and the translucent head member transmits light.

Key Highlights

· Shelter Head Frame: White Fiberglass (Translucent)

· Channel Frame: Roll Formed/Galvanized Steel (2″ x 8″, 2″ x 10″ or 2″ x 12″)

· Side Curtains with Foam Side Members/ Fiberglass Stays (Removable): Available

· Standard Base Unit Projection: 18″ /Maximum Standard Unit Projection: 30″

· Warranty: 5-years

Serco S-3200 Snap-back Dock Shelter

Serco S-3200 Shelter is also known as Snap-back dock shelter. This design is useful because it can be applied to wide vehicle variety and types. When trailers are misguided for some instance, its flexible frame, overlapping layers of fabric provide more resistance against sharp corners to prevent shelter damage. It also defies the side frame because it was covered with white 18 oz. coated vinyl as it projects natural light to the loading area.

Key Highlights

· Channel Frame: Roll Formed/Galvanized Steel: 2” x 4” Sides & 2” x 6”(Raked Top)

· Base Unit Frame Projection (Standard): 24”

· Steel Support Projection (Standard): 30”

· Shelter Sides: Translucent White Vinyl/Shelter Top (Black Vinyl)

· Side Curtains: Cell Neoprene (Closed)/Inside Sealing Edge/Bottom Wear Panel

Serco S-420 Rigid Frame Dock Shelter

When each of the above-mentioned designs has its own specification, the Serco S-420 Rigid Frame Dock Shelter is like the combined Ultra Shelter for its fiberglass material, has the visible stripes that guides the driver to docks like Kelly foam-sided Shelter and Serco S-3200 for its transmission of natural light to the loading dock. What defies this design is that the rain sealing system integration available on shelter with projections up to 30. The best pick for a design if you wish to combine more advantages in one.

Key Highlights

· Standard: Base Unit Frame Projection: 24″ / Steel Support Projection: 30″

· Rain Sealing System Integration (Shelter Projections Up to 30): Available

· Frames (Translucent White Fiberglass): Available

· Increase “Standard” Unit Height by 6″: Available

· Outside Edge of Face Curtains (Aluminum Trim Angles): Available

· And more

Serco R620 Mechanical Rail Shelter

Its product protection extends from the loading dock up to the railway car transition. This dock shelter is suspended on a steel frame and equipped with extension arms that allow covering distances between docks and rail cars up to 72.

Key Highlights

· Variable Height Head Curtain: Fixed/Split (up to 36″ drop standard)

· Multiple cover fabric options: Available

· Variety of Frame/Cover Configurations: Available

When people think of South Florida, especially Miami, they generally think beaches and the Everglades, but here at Overhead Door Company of South Florida, a division of DuraServ Corp, we think of the Port of Miami. For those not in the know, the ports of South Florida are some of the largest cargo ports in the United States. Ports mean warehouses and warehouses mean docks. No one does docks in South Florida better than Overhead Door Company of South Florida.

DuraServ was named the 2019 Serco/Kelly Top Volume Distributor for the 16th year.

We ensure you get the exact dock shelter you need when in dilemma on what to choose. When you decide to invest on these docks, good news! Because these loading docks are available near you!

Contact us at (954) 266-7960 for your dock shelter needs in Miami-Dade, we would be happy to serve.

You can also contact us through our website at and make a service request, or we can visit businesses in our service areas: all of South Florida including West Palm, Broward, Miami-Dade, and Monroe Counties.