Free checklist
Loading Dock Training Checklist
The checklist (10 items)
Written as observable actions, so two trainers scoring the same shift land in the same place. In CrewSharp this is the Truck Loading checklist in the Warehouse / Fulfillment starter set, filed under Shipping, and every item here is editable.
- 1Confirmed the trailer was chocked before loadingCritical
- 2Checked the trailer floor for holes and debris
- 3Checked the carrier matched the shipmentMust pass
- 4Loaded to the plan with heavy freight on the bottom
- 5Secured the load with straps or load barsMust pass
- 6Verified counts against the manifest before closingCritical
- 7Recorded the seal number on the bill of lading
- 8Kept people out of the forklift lane on the dockCritical
- 9Closed the trailer doors before releasing the dock lock
- 10Kept the dock plate area clear
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What usually goes wrong
Three items here are critical and two of them are about people. A trailer that creeps away from the dock or a walker in the forklift lane can cause an injury in seconds, while a count error at least waits until the customer calls.
The items a good total should not outweigh
- Confirmed the trailer was chocked before loading
- Verified counts against the manifest before closing
- Kept people out of the forklift lane on the dock
When to sign someone off
A workable bar for this checklist: no critical items missed, a score above a line you set for Truck Loading specifically rather than one number for the whole building, and observed on more than one shift with at least one of them busy. Then date it, so it can expire.
That last part is the one people skip. A sign-off with no date cannot be re-checked, which means a year later you have a record that says somebody was ready once.
Checklists that pair with this one
Someone trained on this one most often covers these alongside it, which makes them the sensible second checklist to train.
Common questions
Who should be allowed to load trucks?
Someone already signed off on forklift operation, since most loading happens from the truck. The loading checklist then adds the trailer checks and manifest work that a forklift sign-off on its own does not cover.
What should be on a loading dock checklist?
The 10 items above cover it: confirmed the trailer was chocked before loading, checked the trailer floor for holes and debris, checked the carrier matched the shipment, and the rest of the list. Keep it in that range. Fewer and a pass proves very little; many more and trainers stop finishing it during a real shift.
Which items should count as critical?
On this checklist, 3 items are marked critical: confirmed the trailer was chocked before loading; verified counts against the manifest before closing; kept people out of the forklift lane on the dock. Missing one means not ready, regardless of the total score, because these are the failures that cannot be corrected after the fact.
Scoring it is the part that lasts
Run this Truck Loading checklist on a tablet between rushes and CrewSharp keeps the rest: who is signed off, when it was last checked, and which item your crew misses most.
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