Rules
Dock doors, rail spurs and trailers: how to read freight access in a US industrial lease
How to read dock doors, truck court depth, trailer parking ratios and rail spur rights in a US industrial lease, from the exhibit check to the tax treatment.
What to take away
- Freight access in an industrial lease comes down to four numbers: dock and drive-in door counts, truck court depth, trailer parking ratio, and rail car spots.
- Cross-dock buildings need doors on both long walls and a deeper court than front-load buildings served by drive-in ramps.
- Trailer storage is a separate right. Overnight parking may be leased, shared on a first-come basis, or banned outright.
- Rail service depends on a written spur and switch agreement that names the track owner, the car spots, and demurrage.
- These terms feed the rent, the tenant improvement budget, and the tax treatment of the build-out.
Read the door schedule before you argue about rent
The door count lives in an exhibit, not in the marketing flyer. Ask for the door schedule and the site plan before you sign anything.
Count dock doors and drive-in doors separately. A cross-dock layout puts doors on both long walls and moves trailers straight through. Drive-in doors sit at grade and serve vans, box trucks, and yard equipment.
Note the width and height of every opening. Most dock doors measure about 9 feet wide by 10 feet high, which clears a standard trailer bed. Taller or wider doors cost more to build and to repair.
Confirm who repairs doors, levelers, seals, and bumpers. A lease that hands dock equipment to the tenant can shift real money across a five-year term.
Permit history matters too, so check the rules on landlord disclosure of code violations in Florida before you take the space.
Truck court depth decides what a trailer can do
Court depth is the distance from the dock face to the curb, fence, or building opposite. It sets whether a driver can back in, turn, and pull out without blocking the yard.
A shallow court pushes drivers into the drive aisle. Receiving slows, and trailer traffic conflicts with fire lanes and employee parking. Life safety codes such as NFPA 101 govern site circulation and fire access.
Truck court depth
- Pull the site plan and the door schedule out of the lease exhibit.
- Measure court depth from the dock face to the opposite curb or fence.
- Count trailer positions and note whether they are dedicated or shared.
Truck court depth
| Freight term | Where it appears | What to verify |
|---|---|---|
| Door count and type | Door schedule exhibit | Width, height, cross-dock or drive-in |
| Truck court depth | Site plan | Dock face to opposite curb, plus apron |
| Trailer parking ratio | Lease clause and site plan | Positions per 1,000 square feet of warehouse |
| Rail spur | Easement and switch agreement | Car spots, track owner, maintenance split |
If the lease is silent on court depth, the site plan still limits what the landlord can park or build there later. Get that drawing attached as an exhibit.
If local court depth and rail needs rule out most nearby options, freight corridor industrial markets are worth comparing before you widen the search.
Trailer parking ratio and yard rights
The ratio is written as positions per 1,000 square feet of warehouse area. A 200,000 square foot building at one position per 2,000 square feet shows 100 spaces on paper.
Ask whether those positions are dedicated, shared, or assigned by the landlord. Shared yards work until a neighbor fills them and your outbound load waits for a spot.
Overnight parking, gate hours, snow storage, and yard lighting all belong in the lease. Under a net structure those costs pass through as operating expenses.
Landlords near federal offices lease to contractors under screening and access standards, so read what GSA leasing rules require before you sign a government-adjacent space.
Rail spurs: rights, maintenance, and demurrage
Rail-served industrial property usually includes a spur or siding linking the yard to a main line. The switch agreement names who owns the track and who repairs it.
Inside the property line the landlord often maintains the track. Past the switch, the railroad controls access, car spots, and demurrage on cars held too long.
Confirm that service is active. Track that has not seen a car in years may need repair before the railroad will spot a single load.
If a listing says rail adjacent instead of rail served, treat the claim as marketing until the switch agreement proves otherwise.
Example: the same 200,000 square foot shell, two outcomes
Two tenants sign in one building. The first leases 20 dock doors, a 130-foot court, and 40 dedicated trailer positions. The second takes the same footprint with six drive-in doors and shared trailer parking.
The first pays more rent and less labor per pallet. The second saves on rent and pays drivers to wait in the drive aisle. Lease language, not the building, decides which tenant you become.
Where CAM and repair costs land
Operating expenses follow the lease structure. Under a net lease the tenant carries taxes, insurance, and CAM, so freight repairs land on the tenant's side of the ledger. The Cornell net lease definition explains how that allocation works.
CAM reconciliation hides costs that a broker summary will not show. The ASTM guide to commercial lease structures covers where those charges appear and how to question them.
What the improvements cost and how they are taxed
Dock doors, levelers, and trailer yard paving are tenant improvements when the tenant pays for them. Ask an accountant about the Section 179 treatment before you sign the work order.
