How far does a semi-truck need to be from a building?

[AArchitect]

I've been looking through codes and any resource I can find but I can't seem to find anything about how far a semi-truck needs to be away from a building, specifically if the engine needs to be a certain distance away. The building I am working on has a loading dock between two buildings and done of the loading docks cause the truck to be very (about 2'-3' from the face of the exterior wall) as the truck will be parallel to the building. I know I need to move it about another 1-2' away so there's enough room to get between the truck and building on that side. But is there anything in the code on if the front (engine) of the truck has to be a certain distance from a building?

I tried uploading an image put all the sites I tried to paste a link don't work.

 

[steveray]

Not really anything unless there needs to be a fire lane....

 

[classicT]

Nope.... the code is even ok with the truck being in the building in most cases, although with a few other requirements.

 

[cda]

No distance I ever heard of

Especially if in the loading and unloading zone.

Unless fuel trucks

 

[AArchitect]

Okay sounds good. Someone made a comment that the engine can't be close to the building per code in case it explodes but I never heard of a requirement like that and could find nothing that supported that claim. The truck will only be delivering food and supplies for the cafe kitchen in the building. The rest of the loading dock spots will be for the rest of the building but further away.

 

[SCBO1]

I sometimes see bollards installed to protect the buildings corners or garage door entrances. Obviously a door that is 3 to 4-ft wide needs to open at 90° for exiting and a access route that's not blocked would be nice. One thing to check is the building intake vents if adjacent to the parking area.

 

[fatboy]

Agreed, you won't see in the building codes.

 

[Yikes]

The only other comment I would have - - and it's not a code comment - - is to check the location of your air intakes on your building's mechanical systems
Back in the 1990s I had a 4 story apartment building that had a fresh air intake up on the roof. It served as supply air for the corridors.
A year after construction was complete, the local bus company changed their schedule and the bus driver parked and idled his bus at the stop across the streett.

On non-windy days, the diesel exhaust drifted up and across the street and right into our fresh air intake.

there was know way I could have know or designed around it.
But if you have delivery trucks that idle at the loading space, don't put your air intakes too close.

 

[Mr. Inspector]

I only would worry about it if it was filled up with fertilizer.

 

[AArchitect]

Apparently, it is more of an insurance thing. FM Global requires that the truck be 20' from the building unless you rate the exterior wall that it is near.