A pallet rack is a metal shelving system designed to store pallets at height. It's made up of bays formed by vertical uprights and horizontal beams, on which the pallets rest. It's the most common storage equipment in warehouses, available in several families depending on the balance sought between storage density and direct accessibility of each pallet.
A family of equipment, from most selective to most dense
Conventional pallet racking is the most common configuration: each pallet is directly accessible from the aisle, without having to move any others, which offers maximum selectivity but a relatively low floor-space utilization rate (most of the space is taken up by circulation aisles). At the other extreme, accumulation systems, drive-in racking and drive-through racking, sacrifice selectivity for maximum storage density, by removing part of the aisles.
Between these two extremes sit several variants: dynamic racking (rollers or slightly sloped rails, the pallet moves forward by gravity, FIFO logic), push-back racking (pallets are pushed one behind another on carts, LIFO logic), mobile racking (the bays move on rails to eliminate fixed aisles), cantilever racking (support arms, for long loads) and the mezzanine (a storage or picking level created at height). Small-parts shelving, finally, refers to finer racking suited to boxes or bins rather than pallets.
On the budget side, new conventional racking generally costs between €100 and €2,000 per bay depending on height and capacity, dynamic racking between €300 and €4,000 per bay, and cantilever racking between €200 and €3,000 per column; used equipment typically sells for 50-70% of the new price.
Pallet racking remains a load-bearing structure subject to strict safety requirements. Standard NF EN 15635 governs its use and maintenance: an expert inspection at least once a year, supplemented by weekly visual inspections, classification of damage found (green, orange, red depending on severity), mandatory load plates, and the appointment of a person responsible for storage equipment safety (PRSES) within the company.
FAQ
Does pallet racking need to be inspected regularly?
Yes: standard EN 15635 requires an expert inspection at least once a year and weekly visual inspections by in-house trained staff, with damage found classified by severity and any serious anomalies immediately reported to the designated person in charge.
What's the difference between conventional racking and drive-in racking?
Conventional racking makes every pallet directly accessible from the aisle, with high selectivity. Drive-in racking removes part of the aisles and stacks pallets in depth within the same lane, which maximizes density but limits access to a single reference per lane.
Related terms
Anatomy of pallet racking · Drive-in racking · Cantilever racking · Mezzanine · Warehouse / logistics platform · Circulation aisle · FIFO / LIFO / FEFO.
Optimizing the routes around your racking
Once your racking is chosen, the next step is feeding each aisle with pallets smoothly. The autonomous pallet truck handles these repetitive trips between the dock and the racking, with no changes to your existing layout. Discover the autonomous pallet truck or contact us.
Let's check your aisles before everyone else
Rollout is starting soon in France. In the meantime, four questions are enough: your regional contact sends you back a written verdict on your site, with no price and no date attached.