Almost every enquiry that reaches our Foshan office about the HRMS series starts the same way: “We only move 1.5 tonne loads, so a 10 ton ramp is more than enough, right?” Usually yes — but not for the reason the buyer has in mind. The pallet is never the problem; the forklift is. An HRMS ramp is rated against the mass of the truck plus its load, applied through a handful of small wheel prints, and that is the number that decides whether you buy an 8 ton or a 15 ton build.
The HRMS family is our ground-to-dock mobile ramp line, built in 6 to 20 tonne ratings, with the 8, 10, 12 and 15 tonne models making up most of what leaves the yard. Here is what each rating actually buys.
What the HRMS Series Is — and What It Is Not
An HRMS ramp is a wheeled, self-contained steel bridge. The forklift tows it into position, the hydraulic lift raises the approach end, and the lip drops onto a trailer bed, a container floor or the edge of a facility floor. It is the right product for a yard with no raised dock: container yards, 3PL overflow pads, building-to-building transfers, second-hand warehouses where the previous tenant took the dock with them.
It is not a dock leveler, which is a fixture in a concrete pit bridging a few hundred millimetres at a fixed door — for that job a leveler costs less per door. It is not a dock plate either: a plate is a 4–6 mm sheet for hand pallets. A yard ramp carries a counterbalance truck up a slope, in all weather, for years.
The Capacity Ladder: 6, 8, 10, 12, 15 and 20 Ton Builds
Rated capacity on our drawings is a uniformly distributed dynamic load. Every unit is made to order, so treat this as the starting point for the drawing discussion, not a fixed catalogue page.
| Build | Rated capacity | Typical platform (W × L) | Service height range | Realistic duty |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HRMS-6T | 6 t / 13,200 lb | 2,000 × 6,000 mm (6.6 × 19.7 ft) | 1,100–1,250 mm | 1.5–2.5 t counterbalance truck, single-shift van loading |
| HRMS-8T | 8 t / 17,600 lb | 2,200 × 8,000 mm (7.2 × 26.2 ft) | 1,150–1,400 mm | 2–3 t truck, mixed pallets to 1,000 kg |
| HRMS-10T | 10 t / 22,000 lb | 2,200 × 9,000 mm (7.2 × 29.5 ft) | 1,200–1,500 mm | The volume seller: 2.5–3.5 t trucks, two shifts, container work |
| HRMS-12T | 12 t / 26,400 lb | 2,400 × 10,000 mm (7.9 × 32.8 ft) | 1,250–1,600 mm | 3–4.5 t trucks, paper, steel, filled drums |
| HRMS-15T | 15 t / 33,000 lb | 2,400 × 12,000 mm (7.9 × 39.4 ft) | 1,300–1,700 mm | 4–6 t trucks, freight docks, printing and tamping plants |
| HRMS-20T | 20 t / 44,000 lb | 2,500 × 14,000 mm (8.2 × 45.9 ft), modular | 1,400–1,800 mm | 6–8 t trucks, container handlers, rail transfer |
All builds are welded from Q235B / Q355B structural steel with a fully welded main beam, anti-slip checkered deck, 150–200 mm side curbs, a hydraulic cylinder with hose-burst check valve and a mechanical safety leg. They ship CE marked with a load test report.
Sizing Tonnage to the Truck, Not the Pallet
The most common sizing error we see is quoting capacity against payload. A 3 tonne truck carrying a 1.5 tonne pallet weighs 4.5 tonnes, and climbing transfers most of that mass to the front axle — two wheels, each with a contact patch the size of a paperback. Two rules keep you out of trouble:
- Add 25 percent to truck plus load. 3 t truck + 2 t load = 5 t service mass, so specify 6.5 t minimum and buy the 8 t build.
- Check point load, not just the total. European practice under the EN 1398 dock leveller standard uses a 60 kN axle load (about 6 t) on two 150 × 150 mm wheel prints one metre apart as the design case. A 10 t uniformly rated ramp is not automatically a 6 t point-load ramp.
Send us the forklift model, its service weight and your heaviest load and we will size it against the drawing in an afternoon, free of charge.
What Physically Changes as You Climb the Ladder
Tonnage is not a stamp on an otherwise identical ramp. Moving from 8 to 15 tonnes changes the structure:
- Deck plate from 6 mm to 8–10 mm checkered steel, reinforced with transverse ribs.
- Main beam depth and flange thickness increase — the 15 t platform is visibly deeper in section than the 8 t.
- Side curbs from 150 mm to 200 mm, tapered at the entry so the truck does not clip a tyre.
- Lift cylinder bore and rod step up; the 12 t and above units get a heavier pivot pin.
- Running gear from solid rubber wheels to pneumatic or dual sets, because a 2 tonne ramp on soft asphalt needs flotation.
The practical consequence is weight. A 10 t unit is roughly 1.3–1.8 tonnes on its own, and a 15 t passes 2 tonnes. You will not reposition either by hand.
When the 8–15 Ton Range Is the Wrong Answer
Below 6 tonnes of demand, a dock plate or light portable ramp costs a third as much and is plenty strong. Above 15 tonnes, running daily in a fixed spot, a modular ground-to-facility ramp bolted to a pad is cheaper per tonne and more stable. The 8–15 tonne mobile range exists for the yards in between: too heavy for a plate, not busy enough for a structure.
Build Options and What They Do to the Price
| Option | Effect | Indicative EXW adder |
|---|---|---|
| Hot-dip galvanizing (ISO 1461, 70–85 µm zinc) | Multiplies service life in coastal, salt-spray or washdown yards | +18–28% of unit price |
| Mechanical lift instead of hydraulic | No power pack or oil, cheaper to run, slower to set up | −8 to −15% |
| Tow bar / towing loop | Lets a forklift reposition the ramp alone | +2–4% |
| Pneumatic tyres | Required on gravel or soft asphalt | +3–6% |
| Custom length, width or lip extension | Matched to your trailer fleet | Quoted per drawing |
Indicative 2026 EXW Foshan ranges for standard painted builds: 8 t US$2,900–3,900; 10 t US$3,400–4,600; 12 t US$4,200–5,600; 15 t US$5,200–7,000. Directional budget figures, not a quotation. Lead time is 20–30 days painted, 35–45 days galvanized or custom, plus 25–35 days transit; a 40 ft high-cube takes one to three units, and anything over 12 m ships on a flat rack.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does “10 ton” actually mean on an HRMS yard ramp?
It is the uniformly distributed dynamic load the platform is designed and tested for — not the load on one axle, and not a static limit. Point loads are quoted separately, using an axle load on small wheel prints as the governing case.
Can one HRMS ramp serve both a container and a trailer?
Yes, within the service height range. Container floors sit around 1.4–1.5 m above ground and most trailer beds fall between 1.1 m and 1.5 m, which is the travel band of the 10 t and 12 t builds. Ask for maximum slope at both ends of the travel.
Is the 12 ton build worth the extra 20 percent over the 10 ton?
If your heaviest truck is 3.5 t or more, or you handle dense goods such as paper, steel or filled drums, yes — oversizing costs about 20 percent at purchase and returns it through a slower fatigue life on the deck and beams. With 2 t trucks and 800 kg pallets, spend the difference on galvanizing instead.
How many units fit in a container, and how long until delivery?
A 40 ft high-cube holds one to three standard ramps depending on platform length, with wheels and lift frame crated separately. Production runs 20–30 days for painted builds and 35–45 days galvanized, then 25–35 days on the water. Photographs and the load test report are sent before the container is sealed.
Get the Right Rating Before You Order
Send your forklift model, its service weight, your heaviest load and the bed heights you load from, and we will return a capacity recommendation, a general arrangement drawing and an EXW price for the exact build.
Request a quote and drawing — or browse the ground to dock ramp range, the 15 ton heavy-duty ground access ramp, the 20 ton modular HRMS unit and the rest of the mobile yard ramp line.
