Types Of Pallet Racking

If you are not already aware pallet racking storage is a type of shelving used in warehouses and factories for storing pallets optimally. It consists of a basic shelving system with layers of horizontal steel bars (rather than flat shelves) for the pallets to rest upon. You can arrange your shelves in different ways depending on floor space and/or need for stock accessibility. Below are some of the common ways to array your pallet racking system.

Double Deep Pallet Racking

Double deep is a warehouse pallet racking method of doubling up all your shelves. This way each shelf becomes two pallets deep. While this provides condensed storage (and there for the ability to store more pallets) it means that your pallets become ‘first in, last out’ so it is not ideal for perishable goods. You will also need to by a special extra long fork for your forklift

This is the standard method of arranging shelving with one pallet rack along each wall and racks paired up throughout the middle like book shelves. This allows full access to all your stock at any time. It is ideal if you have highly perishable stock that has a short shelf life or if you usually only have one pallet per item.

An alternative to this to save some space is narrow aisle pallet racking. A special forklift is required with a rotating fork to take pallets out from either side of the aisle.

This type of pallet rack allows the driver to drive into a block of pallet rack shelving and rest the pallet down on rails that run along the shelves. This allows you to store pallets with no isles, as long as you do not need good access to the pallets in the middle of the block.

This is quite a clever form of racking. It involves a row of shelving back to back with the shelves on a slight decline. Pallets are placed at the higher end and are pushed down do the next pallet can be loaded. This provides a first-in first-out system and is commonly used in fresh produce warehouses.

While there are many types of pallet racking, it’s important that you try to keep it simple and just choose the method that is best for you. A good qualified supplier should be able to help you design the lay out of your new pallet racking system in a way that is best for you. A good supplier should also give you the option of buying used pallet racking which can save you an absolute boatload.