What is a Yard Ramp?

A yard ramp is basically a mobile loading dock. It's a ramp that can be pushed up to the entrance of a shipping container, trailer or railroad car to facilitate access by forklifts or pallet trucks.

Yard ramps serve two primary functions and have two different categories:

1. Mobile Yard Ramps: For facilities that don’t have a loading dock, they permit lift truck access to trailers and shipping containers for loading and unloading. This can be at a fixed location or a short term job site. Ramps can be readily repositioned and the height can be adjusted to different vehicle heights.
2. Stationary Yard Ramps: For buildings that are equipped with a loading dock, stationary yard ramps can allow lift trucks and other vehicles to proceed from dock level down to ground level and vice versa. Because this style of ramp isn’t moved often, it typically doesn’t have the positioning features supplied with a portable ramp.

Yard Ramp Configuration

Yard ramps are primarily steel construction, although there are also lighter weight aluminum options available. The length of a yard ramp varies by type, but they are generally about 30-40 feet long. Ramps designed for lift truck traffic have a "level off" segment at the top of the incline so that forklifts have some space to move about.

Portable yard ramps are generally outfitted with solid pneumatic tires so they can be easily reoriented. Ramps can be moved with a forklift using a positioning sleeve mounted on the bottom end of the ramp. The angle of the ramp is modified with a hydraulic unit.

Ramp surfaces vary, but are commonly constructed of steel diamond plate or grating. Rails along the sides prevent lift trucks or other equipment from rolling over the edge. At the elevated end of the ramp there is a lip designed to extend over the trailer floor or loading dock surface.

Yard Ramp Applications

As stated, yard ramps can either allow retrieval of freight or goods from truck height, or allow equipment to travel on and off of a loading dock. That can be beneficial in several scenarios:

• Vehicle Access To Buildings: Yard ramps can permit forklifts to travel without restriction in facilities that have both a plant or warehouse and an outside storage yard. In addition, they can enable other vehicles like delivery vans or small trucks to enter a building for loading and unloading or maintenance. For buildings that require routine movement from ground to dock, there are also stationary ramp options that can be installed.
• Material Storage Yards: Yard ramps are often used in industrial storage yards where no loading docks can be built.
• Equipment Relocation: Another common application is for moving heavy equipment, whether it's for oil & gas, construction, mining, forestry or other businesses that use heavy equipment.
• Work Sites: Yard ramps are often used at construction job sites to deliver materials, but there are many other remote job site scenarios where they may be put to use: military supplies and equipment, agricultural totes, outdoor festivals and concerts, etc.
• Dock Expansion: If a plant or warehouse does not have enough loading dock slots available, whether because of volume peaks or seasonal demand, yard ramps can quickly increase capacity temporarily.

Yard Ramps Near Me

If you have question about yard ramps or need to discuss sales or rentals, contact a material handling expert at Raymond West today. We have a vast array of options for almost any application.

Raymond West's Stockton facility serves much of the northern Central Valley, including Stockton, Lathrop, Lodi, Tracy, Modesto, and Merced.

Raymond West | Stockton Material Handling Equipment Supplier

19107 Christopher Way
Lathrop, CA 95330
(800) 675-2500