Why You Should Consider Pallet Racks for Heavy Duty Storage

If you are storing full pallets of product there is a good chance that standard industrial shelving will not be what you need. You may need pallet racks. These items are typically roll formed metal that comes in two basic pieces - an upright and a beam. A typical unit will have 2 uprights and 4 or 6 beams - which would be two or three levels. A lighter duty upright would have about 14,000 pound capacity and a lighter duty beam would have a capacity of 3000 pounds or so. Pallet storage shelving is accessed by forklift, although are often picked using rolling ladders. In other words, the rack is filled in volume, an emptied slowly. Dealers can offer you these items by part, or offer you fully integrated units. With a fully integrated unit, you get the uprights, beams, and wire deck if you order that way. Some companies offer pre-configured pallet racks with rack guards as well. Rack guards keep items from falling out of the storage units.

There are two popular styles of roll formed pallet racks. The styles are Teardrop and Keystone. Teardrop is normally 'old style' Interlake compatible. Interlake is a trusted line of pallet racks that has existed long before my tenure in this industry. Penco has a unique slotted style that some vendors make accessories for. Wireway Husky produces a Penco compatible pallet rack. Wireway Husky's traditional pallet rack is their Invincibile line. If you want capacity that exceeds the roll formed, then you need structural. You can tell a unit is structural if the beams look a bit like I style beams instead of metal that is rolled into a shape. Also, a dealer will not represent roll formed as structural simply because they are so different and incompatible. Structural rack offers upright capacity to 45,000 pounds per upright and 12,000 pounds per pair of beams. That is a serious amount of storage. One final thing to know before you start the process of ordering. California and perhaps other locations have seismic requirements. This makes sense as California is more likely to have ground shaking than a more geographically stable region. The rule here is caviat emptor - the buyer should beware, as east coast and non California dealers can not be expected to be seismic experts!

When ordering, remember to consider rolling ladders as well. You will find the most dealers providing you with pallet racks can sell you rolling ladders as well. Remember to do your research and choose the right product from the right dealer.

Cheers

President
A Plus Warehouse
76 Sanderson Ave
Lynn, MA 01902
Pallet Racks
eds@apluswhs.com

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