Pallet Rack Applications Across Industries
Pallet rack — also called location rack or heavy-duty warehouse rack — is a common rack form made by Nanjing rack makers. Goods cannot sit directly on the rack; they are placed on pallets and then stored by forklift into the corresponding rack locations. Because of its strong stability and load capacity, pallet rack is also commonly called heavy-duty rack.
Structure and handling. Pallet racks are mostly steel structures, though concrete is also possible; they can be single-row or double-row connected. In pallet racking, each pallet occupies one location. Taller pallet racks use stacker cranes for storage and retrieval, while shorter ones can use forklifts. This form enables mechanized loading and unloading, unitized access, higher storage utilization, better labor productivity, and computerized management and control.
Choosing pallets. Pallet racks work with wooden, plastic and steel pallets. In practice, consider the goods and how they fit the rack to choose a suitable pallet. Pallet and goods sizes should match, generally leaving about 100mm of clearance for forklift pick-and-place.
High-bay heavy-duty racks. In warehouse racking, anything over 5m is called a high-bay rack, which naturally includes beam-type heavy-duty racks. High-bay uprights and beams are made from quality Q235 section steel, joined by plugging upright frames into beams, with connecting fittings added for greater stability. Common upright specs are 90×65×1.8mm, 70×60×1.8mm and 55×45×1.5mm; beams are usually C-channel welded box beams, 90 to 140mm wide, 50mm high, about 1.5mm thick.
Industry applications. Pallet racks are widely used in manufacturing, third-party logistics and distribution centers, suiting both many-item small-batch and few-item large-batch goods. In practice, heavy-duty racks have evolved into variants such as heavy-duty double-deep racks and narrow-aisle racks, meeting storage needs across machinery parts, auto parts, brake pads, fasteners, e-commerce cloud warehouses, supply-chain cold stores and sheet material storage.