Yard Ramp Loading Procedures
Beacon loading dock equipment company is proud to announce its yard ramp utilized in a leading eastern city newspaper for loading and unloading procedures. There of course are many types of material handling equipment that are vital to the efficient functioning of business that do a good deal of shipping and receiving.

One category of vital equipment for these businesses is ramps. Some ramp models are designed strictly to serve as a small but necessary crossover surface between a dock and a truck bed. Truck ramps, virtually always made of either fiberglass or aluminum, are designed strictly for cart or hand truck use. Most yard ramps, on the other hand, are more heavy-duty and are designed for forklift use. Please take a few moments to read the following succinct article to learn about yard ramps, their various characteristics and uses, and how to best choose the proper yard ramp model that will best increase the efficiency of your business' shipping and receiving.

Business managers who operate facilities that have busy dock areas know all too well that they can easily be losing money if a delivery truck arrives at their dock area and can't be unloaded because all dock slots are occupied. An excellent material handling solution for the lack of an open dock slot at busy delivery times is the dock yard ramp. Also known as truck loading ramps, dock yard ramps, with portability as a key feature, can quickly be transported to a waiting truck to allow unloading when dock space is unavailable. Portable steel yard ramps thus are important loading dock equipment for any business having any degree of dock-area overflow traffic, In addition, apart from their use at busy loading dock areas, truck ramps frequently are indispensable equipment for businesses that do not have loading docks but nonetheless receive large shipments via truck.

Dock yard ramps, which typically are slightly more than 7 feet wide and either 30 or 36 feet long, extend from ground level up to the truck or semi trailer bed. They feature capacities ranging from 10,000 to 30,000 pounds and are virtually always constructed of either aluminum or steel. Aluminum models are light enough to enable a single worker to move them into position. Top models feature serrated steel grating on their deck surfaces to provide extra traction for the forklifts used to unload or unload cargo. The best-designed models also are self-supporting; they do not place weight any significant added weight on the trailer.

An excellent rule of thumb when selecting the proper capacity when buying a dock yard ramp is to judge the greatest anticipated load and add the weight of the fork truck. Then purchase a dock yard ramp with a capacity of several thousand pounds greater than that combined weight. Many buyers prefer yard ramps that are equipped with a hand pump hydraulic lift. These models allow smooth, fast raising of the ramp's front lip to the height of the trailer bed. Virtually all yard ramp models come standard with safety chains that secure the ramp to the trailer. Most dock yard ramp models can be fitted with either tow bar loops or hitches, allowing them to be towed by forklifts.



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