Rack Safety for Automotive Parts and Distribution
Automotive storage runs the full spread — dense small-parts picking at one end, long and awkward stock like exhaust and body panels at the other, and heavy palletized freight in between. The protection spec has to cope with that range, and with a floor where oil and grease make both traction and housekeeping harder.
One building, two very different storage problems
Small-parts picking wants tight mesh decking and dividers; long or heavy stock wants a different structure entirely. Protection has to be specified per zone rather than per building, and the transition aisles between zones tend to be where impacts concentrate.
Heavy pallets punish the deck, not just the beam
Deck capacity is a uniformly distributed load rating, and a heavy, concentrated automotive pallet is not a uniform load. Where point loading is likely, pallet support bars under the deck carry the load into the beams rather than through the mesh.
Oil on the floor changes how vehicles behave
Reduced traction means longer stopping distances and more glancing contact at the ends of aisles. End-of-aisle and row-end guards take the hits that a base-only column guard is not positioned to catch.