There is some confusion about the different finishes that can be applied to a pallet rack wire deck.

Various manufacturers offer different finishes, and you may have need of more than one of them for different types of storage applications. This primer on the common finish options can help you make decisions about your warehouse, load, rack and application.

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To save time, people  sometimes climb pallet racks to pick orders or do other things. This should never happen. While  it’s faster to climb than it is to bring a rolling stair ladder or a forklift in to do it right, it’s dangerous and counterproductive. Do it long enough and there will be injuries.

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Pallet rack is typically safe and easily-maintained storage equipment, whether you are dealing with selective, pushback, drive-in, or other types of rack.  But if you load it wrong, if you don’t inspect and repair/replace damaged components, if you don’t understand your capacities, and if you don’t take steps to ensure your rack isn’t impacted by loading equipment, that safe rack can become dangerous and expensive.

We have created an infographic to help you navigate the most common mistakes people make dealing with pallet racks.  Feel free to share this graphic to any site or other media. It is the first of many infographic posters we’ll be offering to help people operate and maintain material handling equipment.

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Above: how difficult is it to access these sheets?

Sheet metal is one of the most difficult handling challenges out there. It’s simultaneously bulky, heavy, somewhat flexible and prone to damage if handled incorrectly. It often has sharp edges and corners, making it dangerous to manually move and turn. At higher gauges or in bundles, it requires forklifts, cranes or scissor lifts for safe and effective handling. Even a thin sheet, if it’s 4 x 8, can be too much for a single worker to handle.

Yet, sheet metal is commonly used in manufacturing and fabrication, so finding better sheet metal storage and handling methods is key. What can you do to handle it better?

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Pallet racks are frequently subject to abuse, and even the toughest rack will need some cautious handling, processes, guarding equipment, and other help to remain in service. Racks can be overloaded, hit by heavy forklifts, misloaded, and otherwise impacted. Read our quick tips to help you avoid the frustration, expense, and danger of rack damage.

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It’s always difficult to secure high-value inventory in the warehouse, and it’s even harder when the load resides in pallet racks, which are larger, have a conventionally open design, and more difficult to secure than inventory that sits on shelves or in carousels or within tool cribs.  Pallet rack loads can be palletized or stacked on decking, but either way they are more “open” than other types of inventory.  What are your alternatives?

1. Use upper bays to keep it out of reach.
2. Utilize secure aisles.
3. Store it in a separate area/facility.
4. Utilize rack-mounted security cages.
5. Utilize solid-side rack security enclosures.

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Especially in heavy manufacturing, machine shops, petroleum or chemical operations, large bundles of pipe, tubing, bar stock or other long, heavy loads must be stored and picked during the day. Multiple ways are available to store these loads.  They can be picked by forklifts, by hand, by hoist or by crane. The choices you make will determine how you access the product (and how easily), how much space it takes and its safety. Here are the options:

Storing it on the floor

In some operations, this is the default method. Sometimes these loads are floor-stored between bollards and a wall, or other obstructions that prevent them from rolling or falling outside the defined storage area. This method is the baseline, and it’s not pretty.

• Cost: Floor storage has no direct cost. There is not much if any equipment to purchase. Some installations require bollards or posts, or floor striping for organization.
• Space Consumption: The floor is going to host exactly one bundle in a given area. It’s not going to stack well, and if it does, that’s a potentially dangerous stack.
• Ease of access: Ever try to pick up a 12′ bar of steel from the floor, or even off a stack? Typically you can use a hoist, but not a forklift. Most of the time, floor loads are hand picked.
• Safety: An unsecured bundle isn’t safe. But one that sits on the floor isn’t going to fall on anyone, although it might slide out onto legs or feet.

For any significant operation, this is going to slow you down, endanger people and cause inventory damage. It’s acceptable for a very low moving stock that is near to its processing machinery or otherwise in a niche somewhere that isn’t expected to grow.

Stacking racks

Stacking racks are the most versatile option, but also have severe limitations.

• Cost: These racks are inexpensive, but you have to buy multiple ones to accommodate greater lengths of stock or tubing.
• Space Consumption: Stacking racks can provide a fairly dense product storage method. They can be stacked (depending on type) four to six layers high. They will require aisles for loaders or forklift access. They do not have the vertical utilization a cantilever system does.
• Ease of access: You must unload the top layers to get at the load in the middle or on the bottom layers, no matter the method you’re using for loading or unloading. This results in what amounts to extra picks every time you access anything but the top layer. For a product that is all the same in a given rack, that’s not a problem – pick a layer off and go to the next. For mixed stock, it’s a disaster.
• Safety: Stacking racks are stable if specified and stacked correctly. Don’t overfill them or add layers over what the specifications tell you.

Wire gauge is a crucial element in wire pallet rack deck design and is also one of the first places manufacturers look to when needing to cut costs, meaning it’s one of the first places you should look when comparing decking for your pallet rack project. Lower cost is great, but only if you’re getting the capacity and durability you need.

Just because two decks are the same size in no way makes them the same deck. Here are the critical differences:

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Pallet rack storage is relatively inexpensive and extremely common. In many facilities, it also consumes the majority of square footage. When you can cut down on this space, significant gains can be made that allow you to use the square footage for other purposes. Here are some ideas for reducing your rack storage footprint while maintaining storage capacity.

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Cantilever racks are the best way to store long, heavy loads. Whether the load is a single item or a bundle of them (like lumber, tubing, or pipes), as long as you understand the load, these racks are ideal storage. One key to correctly loading and specifying them is nailing the necessary lateral spacing vs. load weight so that you have enough arms beneath the load.

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