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Gangways · Wide Access · Aluminum · Custom

Every way onto a truck or railcar, and the judgment about which one is yours.

Gangways aren't one product; they're a family of answers. A spot that loads every shift, a walkway serving six different trailer heights, a rack with no power run, a washdown bay that eats carbon steel. Each has a right answer, and the wrong one costs you twice. Here's the line, straight: what each one is, what it's for, and the spec sheets to hand your engineer.

Start with your situation

Match the spot, not the catalog.

"One bay, every shift"

A spot gangway. Titan-class, with the right cage. On a fixed platform. The daily-duty answer. Spot gangways ↓

"Wide tops, multiple hatches"

A Wide Access Gangway. A full, level walking surface over the vehicle, not a single plank to one hatch. WAG family ↓

"Six trailer heights, one walkway"

The self-adjusting stair gangway. Treads that level themselves to every vehicle. SAS ↓

"The spot only runs sometimes"

A mobile unit that rolls between bays. Quoted in days, no civil work. Mobile units →

"Give me the best-engineered line"

The Apollo aluminum series. The line we lead with. Built for washdown, salt, and corrosives that eat coated steel, and the well-engineered default everywhere else. Apollo ↓

"Nothing standard fits"

Custom-engineered access. Measured at your site, drawn, and built to the situation. Custom ↓

Wide Access Gangways (WAG)

A level deck over the whole top, not a plank to one hatch.

When crews work multiple hatches, gauge, sample, and hose-connect across the vehicle, a wide access gangway puts a full serrated-grate walking surface over the top with all-around Surround-U-Rail fall protection. Two ways to run it. Powered or manual, and both come in truck, railcar, and custom configurations.

Wide Access Gangway with weather canopy at a railcar loadout
Wide Access Gangway with weather canopy. Full level deck over the car top.
Powered · EHO Series

Electric-Hydraulic WAG

For the rack with power, and the throughput to use it.

Push a lever: the ramp pivots level, travels down to the vehicle, and sets a full working deck. Push it back: it rises and folds clear. One packaged power unit runs up to four ramps, so a powered rack scales without four conduit runs.

  • Standard 15' and 30' widths, multiple lengths. Side-by-side units cover any rack
  • Levels through an adjustable 2'6" range to match vehicle heights with level footing
  • Self-supporting; hot-dipped galvanized carbon steel
  • Surround-U-Rail all-around fall protection, direct-hatch access
Manual · MO Series

Manually Operated WAG

Same wide deck, no conduit, no power unit, no trenching crew.

Factory-set mechanical balances mean one operator raises and lowers the full ramp smoothly, and a securing latch locks it stowed. For the spots that don't have power and shouldn't need it to be safe.

  • Standard lengths 8', 10', 15', 20', 30'. Other sizes configured to the application
  • Wide approach: working room for multiple hatches per spot
  • Padded ramp + rail edges; hot-dipped galvanized
  • Hydraulic and pneumatic assist options at every size
Application

Truck WAG

Tanker and hopper trailers. Gauging, sampling, washdown, multi-hatch work.

Sized to your fleet's heights and hatch layouts, with the cage and rail configuration matched to how your drivers and operators actually move up top.

Application

Railcar WAG & Custom

Car tops, crash-box layouts, and the situations nothing standard fits.

Railcar geometry is its own world, and some sites are their own world entirely. Both get measured, drawn, and engineered to the spot, on the same WAG bones.

The line we lead with

Apollo Aluminum Series New

The gangway we quote first. Apollo is HEMCO's new-generation line. Engineered by the bench that built the modern category, and meant to be the main line, not a niche. It runs in aluminum: no rust, no re-galvanizing, lighter on every cycle, which makes it the right call for washdown, marine air, food and pharma, and corrosive service, and the well-engineered default everywhere else. If you call us for a gangway, this is what we'll spec.

Apollo self-leveling gangway in railcar service
Apollo self-leveling gangway. One of the first in service.
Close detail of Apollo self-leveling stair treads and counterbalance
The self-leveling stairs. Treads stay level through the full range. The engineering, up close.

Apollo Flat-Ramp Gangway

The simple, durable answer when platform height and vehicle height agree. Hopper cars and truck tops, in aluminum, with no coating to maintain.

Apollo Self-Adjusting

The self-leveling motion in aluminum. Treads that level to every trailer height, with nothing to rust or re-coat.

Apollo Platforms

Aluminum access platforms to match. The full working surface, at a fraction of the dead weight.

The Apollo line is new and moving fast. Spec sheets are issued per-application while the series rolls out. Send your application and we'll return the Apollo spec that fits it, with the drawing.

The heritage line

The proven workhorses.

The galvanized spot and self-adjusting gangways HEMCO has built for 50-plus years. Straightforward, time-tested access for the spots that just need to be reliable. Not where we lead, but the right-sized answer when the duty is light and the budget is the driver.

Telescoping flat-ramp spot gangway providing railcar top access
Telescoping flat-ramp spot gangway. Daily railcar-top access.
Titan-class

Spot Gangway

The proven answer for the bay that runs every shift.

Self-leveling access to hatches, tops, and hose connections with under 30 lb of pull to retract. Light enough that nobody's tempted to skip it. Bolts directly to your existing rack or stringer, which makes it the natural retrofit when an old gangway comes off.

  • Telescoping platform extension; upright locked storage
  • Optional 22.5° pivot mount left or right. For the spots that never line up square
  • Deck options: galvanized steel standard; aluminum or fiberglass available
  • Self-leveling safety cages, including wraparound hatch cages for lids that swing either way
SAS Series

Self-Adjusting Stair Gangway

One walkway, every trailer height.

Stair treads that level themselves to each vehicle. 3, 4, 5, or 6-tread standard models reaching as far off the walkway as the spot requires. Factory-set tension-spring balances keep the whole assembly effortless through its full range. (Those springs are exactly what our maintenance program keeps in tune.)

  • Serrated non-slip treads; rigid handrails + midrails in any position
  • Sealed flange-mount bearings on every tread support
  • Rubber bumpers protect the vehicle and the gangway
  • Longer stringers available with hydraulic assist
Cages, carriages & gates

The hardware that decides whether the gangway actually gets used.

◖◗

Wraparound hatch cages

Flared for lids that swing left or right. Full clearance without lifting the cage away. The cement and pneumatic-trailer answer; we've been fitting them since 2012.

Self-leveling safety cages

Enclosure options for every gangway in the family, matched to your fleet's actual hatch layouts, not a one-size guess.

Track-mounted carriages

One gangway, two spots: track and carriage assemblies let a single unit serve a longer stretch of rack. The right-sizing move for staggered schedules.

Safety gates

Self-closing, galvanized, toe-plated. Adjustable to openings from 28" to 36", built to OSHA spec for ladderways and platform breaks.

PDF Full safe-access catalog PDF Mobile unit spec sheet DOC Request product manuals
How we sell this line

The catalog is theirs to browse. The sizing is ours to get right.

Every product above can be bought wrong. A powered WAG where there's no conduit, a fixed spot where the schedule says mobile, a steel deck where the washdown says aluminum. The line only works because someone reads your spots before picking from it. That's the site visit, and it's free, every time.

1 of 7
Families in this line. The judgment about which, and which size, metal, and cage. Is the actual product.
Engineered drawing and code references attached to every quote.
Two ways in

Start where you actually are.

You've got spots, heights, and a hunch

Book a free Site Visit

We measure, read the duty cycle, and size the family member that fits, including the honest call when it's the cheaper one.

Book the visit →
You've got the spec in hand

Fast-lane the RFQ

Model, length, metal, cage. Send it over and the quote comes back fast with the drawing attached.

Send the RFQ →
Gangways & WAG
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