Loading Platform Safety Solutions
Loading platform safety is an important component of keeping workers safer and protecting against falls when loading and unloading materials. Carbis Solutions offers comprehensive loading platform safety systems, designed specifically to meet your safety goals, operational requirements, and environmental conditions.
Our knowledgeable team guides you throughout the process, from assessing your needs and determining the best approach to creating a custom solution or retrofitting to work with existing equipment. After the sale, we provide ongoing support—training manuals, online or onsite operator training, re-certification, and safety audits—to keep your workers safer and throughput flowing.
To help you determine the best loading platform safety solution, we’ve put together a guide on safety platform-related solutions—read along in chronological order or jump to the section that interests you the most.
- ISO Container Loading Platforms
- Unit Train Loading Platforms
- Loading Platforms and Catwalks
- Single/Multiple Hatch Truck Loading Platforms
- Elevated Truck Loading Platforms
- Transloading and Portable Loading Platform Systems
- Freestanding Portable Truck and Rail Car Access Units
- Railcar Hopper Handrails and Railcar Enclosures
- Pipe Racks
ISO Container Loading Platforms
ISO containers are increasingly popular, especially in the chemical and food industries. ISO containers come in a wide variety of configurations and require specialized fall prevention equipment to keep workers safe when loading and unloading materials.
ISO Container Loading Platforms
Each loading site is different and presents a unique set of needs and challenges. Through our solutions-based approach to ISO containers, we evaluate your facility’s requirements and safety goals. The factors we assess include:
- Operator’s tasks and environment while working with ISO containers
- Product properties and any safety hazards presented
- Site-specific loading process
- How to correctly and continuously spot the truck in the proper location
- How site layout impacts traffic flow and the safety equipment in use
- Power limitations for electric, pneumatic, and hydraulic equipment
- Climate and environmental considerations
- Internal safety standards, applicable industry standards, and best practices
Because each ISO container is unique, opening and closing hatches, and loading and unloading hazardous products can be especially challenging. Carbis’ ISO container safety platforms enable workers to access multiple configurations with just one piece of equipment and keep them safer by eliminating the need to stand on the truck.
Our ISO container safety platforms feature:
- Flip-up panels that allow workers to remain safely enclosed while still being able to access the hatch
- Fast, easy working height adjustment
- 42″ high handrail system
- Safety gates (optional) to expand or reduce the top working area
- The ability to be retrofitted to existing platforms
- The flexibility to be manufactured for any size loading area from 4′ to over 50′
Unit Train Loading Platforms
The Carbis team can design the right unit train loading platform system for your facility and needs. Our systems seamlessly integrate into your operations and can accommodate both coupled and uncoupled rail cars to maximize flexibility.
Whether you are looking for a simple gantry system, or a complete package—featuring cages, loading arms, and spill containment—our engineering team can design the solution you need, when you need it.
Our unit train loading platforms offer:
- Variety of cage solutions to meet your specific needs, from 12″ handrail to full enclosure
- Slip-resistant walk surfaces to maximize worker safety
- Loading arm integration from design to implementation, ensuring coordination for ease of operation
- Spill containment and grounding solutions also available for increased safety and compliance
Loading Platforms and Catwalks
Working at heights involves a certain degree of risk, and falls can result in injuries, reduced productivity, workers’ compensation costs, and OSHA fines. Carbis’ loading platforms and catwalks provide safe access to critical areas involving height without restricting movement. Our custom fall prevention solutions may include OSHA-compliant loading platforms, catwalks, and structural components—built with aluminum, steel, or stainless steel—making them robust and able to withstand industrial use.
Both the loading platform and catwalk allow workers to walk about freely on a non-slip work surface and are protected from falls by mid and top guardrails. Our catwalks and raised platforms can be customized to integrate with existing structures.
Our team can help you determine the right loading platform and catwalk to improve workplace safety, enhance productivity, and keep costs down.
Single- and Multiple-Hatch Truck Loading Platforms
With the vast differences in truck shapes and sizes, flexibility is the key to designing a truck loading solution that accommodates every possible configuration. Carbis’ truck loading platforms are available with single-hatch truck loading or multiple-hatch truck racks. Whether you want to easily sample from one truck or transload between multiple vehicles, our reliable single-hatch truck systems let you move your product quickly with a minimum of fuss.
Each Carbis single hatch truck loading system is designed and built to our exacting standards by a team of engineers to meet your special needs and goals. All of our platforms can be configured to support any of our gangways and SAF-T Cages, to keep your workers safer and throughput flowing.
Single Hatch Truck Loading & Fall Protection Systems
Our single-hatch truck loading systems offer:
- Slip-resistant walk surfaces
- Optional swing gates at all openings to prevent falls
- Rugged and durable galvanized steel construction
- Traffic control systems—lighting and grounding systems are also available
- Easily integrated loading arms
Carbis offers a variety of truck loading systems that provide safe access to trucks with multiple hatches. We can create a customer solution or integrate and retrofit loading solutions to your existing infrastructure to minimize downtime and construction costs.
Carbis offers a comprehensive range of products to help create safe access to trucks with multiple hatches, including:
- Tracking Gangway Systems for Loading Racks
- Elevating Truck Cages (modals)
- Articulating Truck Cage Loading Racks (TCEN)
- Extended Cage Systems
Elevated Truck Loading Platforms
Our elevated truck loading platform was designed to provide operators and drivers with safe, flexible access to trucks of varying heights and lengths for loading, sampling, venting, and other purposes. Our platform can be used in conjunction with multiple product loading lines—consolidating loading into a single platform to save time, money, and valuable space.
Our elevating platforms provide the flexibility you need, with flip-up floor panels, and the added safety of a 42” handrail surrounding the operator.
Carbis’ elevated truck loading platforms offer:
- 42″ high handrail system—including handrail, mid rail, and toe board—to protect the operator for a full 360 degrees
- Padded lower edge to help prevent vehicle damage
- Flip-up floor panels for full vehicle access to eliminate spotting problems
- Single-spot loading to service multiple vehicles, saving time and money
- Variable heights to accommodate a variety of truck configurations
Transloading and Portable Loading Platform Systems
Our transloading and portable loading platform systems provide safe dual access, even in the most challenging of environments. The quality-engineered Buzzard dual vehicle access system enables operators to transfer products safely and can be configured to provide access to two kinds of rolling stock simultaneously.
The Buzzard accommodates motors, pumps, and hoses to fulfill the specific requirements and safety goals of each site. When in operation, the Buzzard is positioned between two vehicles—and access gangways with fall prevention cages are deployed—providing workers with safe access to the tops of vehicles.
The Buzzard portable transloading system offers:
- Dual gangways that can be operated manually, hydraulically, or pneumatically
- 42″ high handrails with mid rails and toe boards for extra safety
- Lightweight maneuverability for access where it is needed
- One-stop transloading solution that can accommodate a full pumping system
Freestanding Portable Truck and RailCar Access Unit
Carbis’ portable truck and railcar access systems are multi-vehicle mobile powerhouses. No matter what your application—loading, sampling, or transloading railcars, hopper trucks, or tanks—we have the right solution for your specific situation.
Our systems provide workers with safe access to the tops of trucks and railcars of all different types and sizes during loading and unloading. Each system supports up to 500 pounds on walk surfaces, and can be modified to accommodate loading arms or hoses as needed. See our portable access system in action.
Our TC10 portable access system features:
- Optional side mounts
- Counter-weights so that unit is self-supporting
- Tow bar/steering mechanism for unit positioning
- Four jacks for leveling the base
- Large 16″ diameter foam-filled wheels
An additional advantage is that when a spot goes down at your facility, the TC-10 functions to get you back up and running while you wait for a replacement unit, reducing downtime and lost revenue.
Our TTX portable access system features:
- 8″ swivel caster with brake for quick maneuverability
- 16″ foam-filled wheels on back for easy spotting
- Lowest clearance 10′-0″
- Full extension to 14′-0 5/8″
- Hand winch operation
- Platform 1′-10 3/8″ wide and 4′ 0″ long
- 4′ 0″ wide x 5’0″ long cage, which is 2′ 9″ deep
Note: Unit is not self-supporting and must rest on the vehicle.
Railcar Hopper Handrails and Railcar Enclosures
Working on top of railcars is, by nature, a hazardous proposition. According to OSHA, after transportation-related deaths, falls are the number one cause of worker fatalities. The right safety equipment is essential to help keep workers safer and protect against falls that can cause serious injury or death.
When your employees are working on top of railcars, it is essential that they have safe access to all hatches. Our railcar hopper handrail solutions and railcar enclosures help safeguard your employees when they’re working on railcars. Hopper car handrails also help to maximize fall protection for employees who need to access multiple hatches at one time.
Our railcar hopper handrails offer:
- Easy vehicle spotting
- Easy access to coffin lids on top of railcars
- Increased throughput efficiency and productivity
- Ability to access the entire length of the vehicle
- Option of integrating handrail systems with a fall arrest system
Carbis’ railcar enclosures provide your workers with safer access to railcar hatches without the need for tie-offs. Because no two facilities are alike, we tailor our fall prevention solutions to meet your needs.
Our railcar enclosures:
- Meet OSHA’s 42″ height requirement for handrails
- Satisfy OSHA’s 19″ sphere handrail opening standard
- Decrease downtime
- Improve workplace safety
- Increase throughput and efficiency
Pipe Racks
Carbis’ structural steel pipe racks provide heavy-duty stability, typically supporting pipes, power cables, and instrument trays in a variety of industrial settings. Our pipe racks are also used to support mechanical equipment, vessels, and valve access platforms.
Carbis’ piping solutions technical specifications:
- Maximum pipe diameter of 12” without insulation
- Live load of 30 psf + 10 psf ice per level
- Wind load per ASCE7 90 – 120 mph
- Seismic load per ASCE7
- Ground acceleration: effective peak
- Acceleration Aa = .12; effective peak velocity-related
- Acceleration Av = .11
T-Support Racks:
- Single or double level design
- Clear heights from 10’ to 20’
- Support spacing at 10’, 15’, or 20’ per load and site requirements
- Base plate mounting allows for easy installation
- Standard cross arms are 4’ long
Bent Racks:
- Single, double, or triple level design adds flexibility and expendability to your site
- Clear heights from 10’ to 20’
- Spacing at 20’, 25’, 30’, 40’, or 50’ per load and site requirements
- Base plate mounting allows for easy installation
- Bent inside dimension of 5’-4”, 7’-4”, or 9’-4”
Racks are not designed for longitudinal or lateral loads due to piping.
Real-World Situations and Solutions
One trucking company decided it was time to enhance its flatbed truck fall prevention measures in order to protect workers. Discover how the company decided on safe access platforms as a safety solution. See how these safety measures apply in real-world situations.
Contact a loading platform expert to discuss your current system needs. Carbis has been providing fall protection solutions for more than 40 years and we look forward to helping you on your next project.
