Three line items sit side by side on most loading bay quotations: a curtain-frame shelter, an inflatable shelter and a cushion model. All three promise to close the gap between the building and the trailer. The specification sheet rarely explains where they differ. The difference shows up in the first winter, on the energy bill, and on the curtain face.
We manufacture these doors and their hardware on our own production lines, and the distinction matters more than most quotations admit. Dock shelter types separate on five practical axes: sealing method, vehicle tolerance, running cost, wear parts and fleet fit. Each type below is read against those axes, and a selection table closes the page. By the end, the choice reads as a checklist rather than a guess.
What a Dock Shelter Does at the Bay
A dock shelter is a fabric structure fixed around the outside of the dock opening. When a trailer backs in, the shelter surrounds the vehicle’s rear so the door can open into weather that stays outside. Nothing projects into the opening, so the full door width stays available to forklifts and pallets. That is the structural difference from a compression seal, which pads the opening itself; our dock seals versus dock shelters guide settles