Introduction

Two gantry cranes can lift the exact same container, span the exact same width, and carry the exact same tonnage — yet one is the right choice for your yard and the other is a costly mistake. The difference comes down to how the crane moves on the ground: on rubber tyres, or on fixed rails.

A rubber tyred gantry crane (RTG) rolls on large pneumatic tyres and steers freely across paved yard surfaces. It can move between stacking blocks, cross lanes, and reposition wherever the work goes. A rail mounted gantry crane (RMG) runs on fixed steel rails embedded in the ground. It cannot leave its rail path, but within that path it delivers higher capacity, faster speeds, and the option of full automation.

This single decision — wheels or rails — shapes everything downstream: your civil works cost, your yard layout flexibility, your power system, your automation potential, and your long-term operating expense. Choose an RTG when you need flexible coverage across a paved yard. Choose an RMG when you need high throughput along a fixed, intensive corridor. Pick wrong, and you either pour expensive rail foundations you never needed, or you accept slow, flexible coverage where you needed fast, fixed throughput.

This guide explains the core mechanical difference between RTG and RMG cranes, the technical and cost factors that separate them, three industries where the choice plays out in practice, the specification points that decide each project, and a 2026 price reference to frame your budget.

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Part 1: The Core Difference — Tyres vs Rails

How the RTG Moves

A rubber tyred gantry crane travels on multiple rubber tyres, typically arranged in groups at each leg corner. The crane steers — most can rotate the wheel sets 90 degrees to move sideways between stacking blocks — and it needs no fixed track. It runs on any paved surface engineered to carry its wheel loads.

This mobility is the RTG’s defining trait. A single RTG can serve several parallel container stacks, move to wherever demand is heaviest, and reposition across the yard as operations change. The trade-off is that wheel loads are concentrated on a small number of contact patches, demanding a heavily engineered pavement and limiting overall capacity.

How the RMG Moves

A rail mounted gantry crane runs on steel rails fixed to the ground on continuous reinforced-concrete beam foundations. It travels only along that rail line — back and forth, never sideways. Within its corridor, though, it carries the load on many wheels distributed along the rail, spreading the weight and allowing far higher capacity, faster long-travel speeds, and smoother, more predictable motion.

The fixed rail is both the RMG’s limit and its strength. It cannot leave its line, but that fixed geometry is exactly what makes precise positioning, higher speeds, and full automation practical.

Why the Movement Method Decides Everything

The choice between tyres and rails is not a minor configuration detail — it sets the foundation cost, the achievable capacity, the speed, the power supply, the automation potential, and the yard flexibility. Every other specification flows from this single decision. Understanding the downstream effects is the key to a correct choice, and the next section breaks them down.

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Part 2: Technical and Cost Differences

The tyre-versus-rail decision drives differences across six engineering dimensions. Work through each one against your own operation.

Foundation and Civil Works

This is the largest hidden cost difference between the two crane types.

• RTG: requires a heavy-duty reinforced concrete or asphalt pavement engineered for concentrated wheel loads, plus defined running lanes. No continuous rail beam is needed, so civil works are lower and more flexible.
• RMG: requires continuous reinforced-concrete rail beam foundations running the full length of the travel path, with embedded steel rails precisely aligned. This is a substantial civil engineering project and the single biggest cost item beyond the crane itself.

For a yard where layout may change, the RTG’s lighter civil requirement is a major advantage. For a fixed, permanent corridor, the RMG’s rail investment pays back through higher throughput.

Capacity Range

• RTG: typically 35 to 65 tonnes — well suited to standard and twin container handling, but limited by tyre contact loads.
• RMG: typically 35 to 120+ tonnes — the distributed rail wheels allow much higher rated capacities for heavy containers, coils, or general cargo.

Travel Speed and Throughput

• RTG: long-travel speed is moderate, and sideways repositioning between blocks takes time. Throughput is good but capped by mobility overhead.
• RMG: higher long-travel speeds along the rail and smoother motion give higher sustained throughput in a fixed corridor.

Power Supply

• RTG: traditionally diesel-electric, giving full mobility with no fixed power connection. Modern electric RTGs use cable reels or conductor bars, trading some flexibility for lower energy cost and zero local emissions.
• RMG: almost always electric, powered through a conductor bar or cable reel along the fixed rail — clean, quiet, and energy-efficient.

Automation Potential

• RTG: semi-automation is achievable, but full automation is harder because the crane steers freely and its position is less precisely defined.
• RMG: the fixed rail geometry makes RMGs the preferred base for fully automated stacking cranes (ASC), with precise, repeatable positioning.

Yard Flexibility

• RTG: high — moves between blocks and relocates as the yard evolves.
• RMG: low — locked to its rail line, but that constraint enables its speed and automation advantages.

Quick Comparison Table

Factor	RTG (Rubber Tyred)	RMG (Rail Mounted)
Movement	Free-steering on tyres	Fixed on steel rails
Civil works	Engineered pavement	Continuous rail beams
Typical capacity	35–65 t	35–120+ t
Travel speed	Moderate	Higher
Power	Diesel or electric	Electric
Automation	Semi-automation	Full automation ready
Yard flexibility	High	Low
Relative civil cost	Lower	Higher

Bottom line: the RTG wins on flexibility and lower civil cost; the RMG wins on capacity, speed, and automation. Match the strength to your operation, not the other way around.

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Part 3: Application 1 — Container Terminals and Ports

The Stacking Yard Decision

Container terminals store thousands of boxes in stacking blocks between the quay and the landside gate. The crane that serves these blocks must lift, stack, and retrieve containers efficiently across the working day.

RTG choice: ports that need flexible block coverage and may reconfigure their yard layout favor RTGs. A fleet of RTGs can shift to wherever vessel discharge or truck demand concentrates, balancing the workload across the terminal without fixed infrastructure dictating where work happens.

RMG choice: high-throughput terminals — and especially automated terminals — favor RMGs. The rail-bound geometry supports faster cycle times, higher stacking density, and unattended automated stacking cranes that run around the clock with minimal labor.

How Terminals Decide

Growing or evolving terminals that value flexibility, lower upfront civil cost, and the ability to redeploy cranes lean toward RTGs. Mature, high-volume terminals chasing maximum throughput per hectare and automation lean toward RMGs. Many large ports run both — RTGs in flexible zones, RMGs in dense automated blocks.

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Part 4: Application 2 — Rail Freight and Intermodal Yards

Loading Across Multiple Tracks

Intermodal yards transfer containers between trucks and railcars, often across several parallel tracks and a truck lane. The crane must span the tracks and reach the loading lanes on each side.

RMG choice: intermodal terminals overwhelmingly favor RMGs. The work happens along a fixed, predictable corridor — the rail tracks themselves — which is exactly the geometry an RMG serves best. Wide-span RMGs cover multiple tracks plus truck lanes in a single span, moving containers between rail and road at high speed along a permanent path.

RTG consideration: RTGs appear in intermodal use where the yard surface is paved throughout and the operator wants the freedom to move the crane between separate loading areas. But the fixed-corridor nature of rail freight usually makes the RMG’s rail-bound design the natural fit.

Why Span Matters Here

Intermodal RMGs are frequently specified with very wide spans to cover multiple tracks and lanes at once. The fixed rail beam handles the high wheel loads of a wide-span, high-capacity crane far better than free-rolling tyres, reinforcing the RMG’s lead in this application.

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Part 5: Application 3 — Steel Yards and Heavy Industrial Storage

Handling Heavy, Dense Loads

Steel mills, plate yards, and heavy fabrication storage handle coils, slabs, plates, and structural sections — loads that are far denser and often heavier than shipping containers. Capacity and durability dominate the selection.

RMG choice: heavy steel handling strongly favors RMGs. The high capacity available on a rail-mounted design — well past 100 tonnes when required — and the rugged, distributed wheel loading suit the constant heavy duty of a steel yard. The fixed rail also supports the precise positioning needed to stack coils and slabs safely.

RTG consideration: RTGs serve lighter steel storage and mixed yards where loads stay within tyre capacity limits and layout flexibility is valued. For the heaviest steel duty, though, the RMG’s capacity and structural robustness make it the standard choice.

Duty and Environment

Steel yards impose heavy, frequent cycles, often in hot or abrasive conditions. The RMG’s electric power, smooth rail travel, and high duty class ratings make it well suited to this demanding, continuous service — another reason heavy industry leans rail-mounted.

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Part 6: Specification Considerations

Before committing to RTG or RMG, work through these decision points with your supplier.

Define Your Yard Permanence

Ask the first and most important question: will your yard layout stay fixed, or will it change?

• Fixed, permanent corridor with high throughput: RMG.
• Evolving layout needing flexible coverage: RTG.

If you cannot answer this, you are not yet ready to specify the crane — settle the yard plan first.

Confirm Capacity and Load Type

Match the crane to your actual loads.

• Standard and twin containers within 65 tonnes: RTG is viable.
• Heavy containers, coils, slabs, or loads above 65 tonnes: RMG.

Always confirm the rated capacity against your heaviest real lift, including the spreader or below-hook hardware weight.

Assess Civil Works Budget

The civil cost can rival the crane cost on an RMG.

• Verify whether your site can carry RTG wheel loads on engineered pavement, or whether rail beam foundations are feasible and budgeted.
• Factor rail alignment, drainage, and beam reinforcement into the RMG civil estimate from the start.

Evaluate Power and Emissions Requirements

Decide your power strategy early.

• Need full mobility with no fixed power: diesel or electric-cable RTG.
• Need clean, quiet, energy-efficient operation: electric RTG or RMG.
• Local emissions limits or sustainability targets: electric drive on either type.

Plan for Automation

If automation is on your roadmap, it shapes the choice.

• Full automation now or later: specify RMG for its rail-bound precision.
• Manual or semi-automated operation: either type works; RTG keeps flexibility.

Verify Span and Travel Length

Confirm the crane geometry against your yard.

• Span must cover all required stacking rows, tracks, or storage lanes.
• Travel length (rail length for RMG, paved run for RTG) must reach the full working area.

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Part 7: 2026 Price Reference

These ranges frame budgeting only — final pricing depends on capacity, span, duty class, automation, and site conditions. Contact WEIYUAN for a quote matched to your yard.

Rubber Tyred Gantry Crane (RTG):

• 40-tonne, 6-container-wide span, diesel-electric: $750,000 to $1,400,000
• 40-tonne, electric (cable reel or conductor bar): $850,000 to $1,600,000

Rail Mounted Gantry Crane (RMG), manual/semi-automated:

• 40-tonne, comparable span, electric: $700,000 to $1,500,000 for the crane, plus rail beam civil works
• Rail beam foundation civil works (full travel length): $300,000 to $1,200,000+ depending on length and ground conditions

Automated Stacking Crane (ASC, rail-mounted, fully automated):

• 40-tonne automated RMG: $1,400,000 to $3,000,000+ per crane, plus civil works and automation infrastructure

Cost comparison takeaways:

• An RTG often has a lower total installed cost than an RMG once rail civil works are included — when capacity and throughput needs are moderate.
• An RMG’s higher installed cost is justified by higher throughput, higher capacity, lower energy cost (electric), and automation potential over a long service life.
• For heavy steel duty above 65 tonnes, the RMG is frequently the only viable choice, making the cost comparison moot.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Can a rubber tyred gantry crane be converted to a rail mounted gantry crane later?

A: Generally no — not as a practical conversion. The two crane types differ in their travel mechanism, wheel arrangement, structural design, and often their power systems. An RTG is engineered around steered tyre sets and concentrated wheel loads; an RMG is engineered around fixed bogies running on rails with distributed loading. Converting one to the other would require replacing the entire undercarriage and re-engineering the structure — effectively building a new crane. Decide between RTG and RMG at the specification stage, and if you anticipate moving from flexible to fixed operation, plan the rail infrastructure from the outset.

Q: Which crane type is better for an automated container yard?

A: The rail mounted gantry crane is the standard choice for automation. Its fixed rail geometry gives the precise, repeatable positioning that automated stacking cranes (ASC) require to run unattended. Rubber tyred gantry cranes can be semi-automated, but full automation is far harder because the crane steers freely and its position is less precisely defined. If unattended, around-the-clock automated stacking is your goal, specify a rail-mounted system.

Q: Do I need diesel power for a rubber tyred gantry crane?

A: No longer. Traditional RTGs used diesel-electric drives for full mobility, and that option remains available. But modern electric RTGs draw power through cable reels or conductor bars along their running lanes, cutting energy cost and eliminating local emissions while keeping most of the crane’s flexibility. Choose diesel when you need complete freedom of movement with no fixed power; choose electric when sustainability, energy cost, and emissions limits are priorities and your running lanes are defined.

Q: How much does the rail foundation add to a rail mounted gantry crane project?

A: It can be a major share of the total project cost — often comparable to the crane itself for long travel paths. Continuous reinforced-concrete rail beams must run the full length of the travel path, with precisely aligned embedded rails, proper drainage, and reinforcement sized for the wheel loads. Budget for the rail civil works as a distinct line item from the start, and have a structural engineer assess your ground conditions early — soft or variable soils can increase foundation cost significantly.