Many people say keep up with federal regulations and your facility will be trouble-free. That's not always the case, say managers at the Richmond, Va. facility of Johns Manville, a Berkshire Hathaway company, and manufacturer of building and specialty products.

Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 108 requires all over-the-road trailers over 80 inches wide to have three rear identification lamps and two rear clearance ramps on the top back of the trailer. Meanwhile, many tractors are equipped with larger alternators to power on-board systems such as TVs and microwaves.

This combination results in more and hotter lights. In fact, trailer lights, left energized against a compressed dock seal head pad, can generate temperatures in excess of 900 degrees Fahrenheit—a fire hazard as Johns Manville facility managers know first-hand.

A fire broke out when a rig's hot trailer lights came into contact with the foam material inside the dock seal's head pad. Fortunately, an employee extinguished the fire before serious damage occurred but nonetheless, the incident caused alarm.

"A loading dock seal that catches fire is simply unacceptable," says Tim Bartos, shipping and receiving supervisor at the facility.

A safer solution came in the form of a dock seal system with a fire-resistant head pad (Frommelt Products Corp., a Rite-Hite Corp. Co., 800-553-5560). The head pad features a triple layer of heat dissipating and reflective foil between the fabric cover and the foam core. It limits the temperature that a marker light can generate to less than 400 degrees Fahrenheit, virtually eliminating the danger of trailer marker lights causing a head pad fire.

New safety policies have been implemented at the facility, says Tony Moore, manager of services. Truck drivers are prohibited from parking trailers against the loading dock seals during the weekend. Also, barriers in front of docks prevent trucks from parking trailers against the seals. Finally, drivers are asked to turn off their trailer lights.