Pallet racks can take up a large amount of floor space in a warehouse. They can pose a serious safety hazard if you don’t have proper knowledge of the warehouse’s capacity. Knowing how to determine pallet rack capacity should be the first step before rack installation begins.
It can be easy to estimate how much you think you’ll need, but we often grossly overestimate how much a rack can hold. Here is a method for ordering pallet racks with the proper capacity.
Make Sure All Components Have the Same Weight Limit
A rack consists of many parts that form a whole, and these parts come with different specifications and limits. Whether you’re ordering uprights, beams, decks, or braces, you must make sure they all have the same load capacity.
Constructing the rack with a single component that has a lesser load capacity will put the entire system in jeopardy. The entire rack system can fail at one point and can cause it to collapse. It’s a small oversight that can be easy to overlook, but double-checking and then rectifying weak links will keep everyone safe.
Before purchasing any pallet rack decking for sale, make sure that it’s up to the job and will meet your needs.
Determining the Capacity
The method on how to determine pallet rack capacity can be simple—it’s the construction that can be the difficult part. The first step is to know the weight of the heaviest load you’ll be storing. In this situation, it’s always good to overestimate a little than to underestimate.
Take that weight of the heaviest load that you will possibly handle and determine how many of those loads you’ll be placing on any given beam level. Take the weight and then multiply it by the number of loads you hypothetically intend to store. Then take that number and multiply it by the beam levels per bay.
To use an example, if the heaviest load is 1,200 pounds and you intend to put three on a pallet position, then the beam capacity is 3,600 pounds. If you intend to have two beam levels per bay, then your rack capacity is 7,200 pounds.
Whatever your pallet rack capacity may be, remember that it’s always better to overestimate by a little. Underestimating or purchasing parts that are too weak will result in an unsecured racking system that poses a danger to everyone on the job.
