ORLANDO, Florida—Doleco USA unveiled a faster way to adjust captive decking beams that help maximize cargo space in trailers. Called the Level Deck Self-Leveling Decking Beam, the securement device simplifies the leveling process by allowing a worker to engage the locking mechanism on only one side of the beam as opposed to both.
“The operator can just release the system and then bring it down; the other side releases to the angular force extending up,” explained the system’s inventor, Steven Downing, at American Trucking Associations’ Technology & Maintenance Council 2022 annual meeting.
This ends up doubling worker productivity, noted Ralph Abato, president and managing director of Doleco.
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Downing said that the dry van and reefer trailers that could use this system employ up to 20 beams, so this system becomes “a significant time-saver.”
The system moves quietly and smoothly along the Doleco LayerLok track, which uses beveled teeth as opposed to notches. Raising the beam now requires less physical exertion, and thus reduces shoulder strain from the repetitive task, Downing noted.
“The biggest causes of damage that I've seen for captive beam systems is when they get hit by a forklift,” Downing explained. This is because the pressure from the forks bends the metal pieces that lock the foot assembly to the track.
He designed the Level Deck with this in mind.
“Rather than the foot assembly being encased inside the channel, the foot assembly wraps itself and hugs the channel,” Downey explained. “And it's made of a nickel aluminum alloy, which prevents bending and has a nice shear force.”
Innovating efficiency
Downing started engineering the system over a decade ago while working as a project manager at Con-way Freight. The former Marine spent a lot of time working in and out of trailers, analyzing how to better secure loads in less time and with less effort. During that time, the Lean Six Sigma Black Belt experienced all of the pain points of working with a captive decking system.
“They're great systems for the company to provide better loads faster and reduce damages; however, as an actual end-user, there are a lot of inefficiencies,” Downing explained.
The inefficiency comes from requiring a special tool to disengage the locking mechanism on one side, moving it up or down, and then doing the same to the other side. On top of that, the process may need to be repeated to get the height right, and sometimes the tool isn’t around when you need it.
Downing said a recent Doleco innovation, which was unveiled at the TMC 2021 Fall event in Cleveland, Ohio, made the system possible.
“The final mile was getting a piece of the new LayerLok track in my hands,” he said. “As soon as I got that, I knew how to overcome the final engineering struggles that I had to be able to bring this product closer to market.”
