Thread: Distance between buildings? (for loading purposes)

Is there a general "rule of thumb" as far as distance between buildings --- meaning the doors of the buildings? I'm considering constructing a new building that will face the existing ones on my property -- but I want to make sure that customers will be able to comfortably back up to the loading doors, etc.

Some people may have large U-Haul trucks, some may be towing a trailer, etc. --- so all of that has to be taken into account, I feel. Ideally I don't want someone to have to make 8 or 10 turns and driving corrections, if that makes sense.

Anyone have any ideas or estimates? For example -- 40 feet, 50 feet, etc.

thanks!

Our dries are between 25' and 30' -- we do not allow people to "back up to the loading doors" -- they pull along side and unload.

To the best of my (limited) knowledge this is pretty standard for a storage facility.

I'm sure someone with better information will jump in here.

Good luck with your project.

For our Drive-up units we also are in the range of 25' - 30' drive aisles and would require tenants to pull alongside of unit, not back-in. This works great for most tenants, but if you are looking to make units more attractive to a broader range of commercial tenants you might consider providing a wider drive aisle to back-up to a unit. Keep in mind the height of the building and doors if you are expecting tenants to back into the units, give an inch and they will often take a mile and expect to be able to get the back end of the vehicle inside out of inclement weather. With the cost of real estate in our area this would require premium pricing for these units and I am certain this is the main consideration when trying to determine the proper drive aisle width.

For our Climate Control units, which are in a larger building with interior corridors for access, we have provided garage bays which can accomodate easily backing in a 17' moving truck for loading/unloading.

I would suggest 20 to 25 feet, atleast. If you allow vehicles in your spaces, make sure that you allow enough space for them to pull or back in.

If you don't give enough space for tenants to back up to the space to unload, you will have fewer repairsor damage to your buildings. for some strange reason, tenants will back up until they hit something, and then figure that is far enough.

When I design a facility, I plan on 26'-0" for the long drive aisles and 30'-0" to 32'-0" at the ends of buildings. However, the building code requires 40'-0" between buildings except under certain conditions. The building manufacturer should be able to help you in figuring out what you need.

25 feet at least! If you have a large 26 foot moving truck with the ramp down and folks are unloading in an aisle, other folks have to be able to drive around them. I have always thought that this should be a MAJOR consideration when building sites. That is one reason we get rentals because our aisles are WIDE!! It really is a selling point!!

Thanks for all the replies thus far.

Looks like the minimum that most are using is around 25', which shouldn't be a problem at all.
If/when I build again, I could comfortably go up 40 or 45' in width, given the layout of the land.

This next building will be the last one, so I want to make sure everything works out as smooth as possible.

thanks!

Good luck with your new building!

In most areas this is the best time to build (if you can get the financing) as lots of construction crews available.

I'm the construction crew.

Check your local code enforcement. Around here a driveway must be a minimum of 26' wide to accommodate Fire Truck access.