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Are you investing in a warehouse racking installation? If so, it pays to get it right the first time.
One step you can't afford to skip? Securing and anchoring your pallet racks the right way. This single move is critical to ensuring the safety and security of your products, as well as your workforce.
Today, we're taking a closer look at 15 of the most common considerations to keep in mind as you consider the best way forward. Read on for the details you need to know.
1. Do Pallet Racks Have to be Bolted to the Floor?
The short answer? Yes.
According to the Rack Manufacturers Institute (RMI), American National Standards Institute (ANSI) MH16.1-2012, all pallet rack columns are required to be anchored or secured to the floor with bolts. This not only includes aisle columns, but it also extends to the interior or rear columns on all frames.
Under this specification, all columns must include a base plate, along with anchor bolts that meet RMI design standards for quality and durability.
Why are these components required?
The most obvious answer is to keep the racks upright and in place.
The base plate and anchor bolts work together to safeguard your racks against any force that occurs near the base of the columns. From earthquakes to forklift collisions, you never know when an impact could upset your setup. These components can keep your racks intact and help ensure that everyone in the vicinity is safe.
2. Floor Type Considerations
Of course, there will be certain floor types that are easier to secure a rack into than others. Industrial warehouse floors can be made of myriad materials, including:
Most of the time, pallet racks are anchored to concrete. In this case, there are special tools you can use to make the job easier. These include:
Before you begin anchoring your pallet rack to the floor, it's important to make sure it can withstand the weight and pressure that you're putting on it. The considerations to keep in mind include:
In some cases, lightweight storage racks can be installed on surfaces other than concrete (e.g. wood decking, bar grating). However, a qualified engineer must be present to review and recommend the most appropriate means for anchoring or attaching the racks.
3. Floor Slab and Soil Subgrade
Before installing and anchoring a rack to the floor of your building, it's your responsibility to ensure that the new or existing floor slab in the building is capable of supporting the loads that you plan to put onto it. In addition to storage racks, consider the fork trucks and other equipment that will be traveling across the surface.
Important slab data to note includes:
In addition to analyzing the slab, it's also important to consider the soil sub-grade of your facility. An engineer can measure the stiffness of the sub-grade, expressed in pounds per cubic inch, as well as its bearing capacity of the sub-grade, expressed in pounds per square foot. Especially in an earthquake-prone area, an additional soil site classification can help direct design specifications.
4. Anchoring Near Slab Expansion Joints
If you plan to anchor pallet racks near slab expansion joints, it's important to take extra precaution.
A supervising engineer should be on-site during installation to ensure that the design conforms to the required specifications. The same applies if you're replacing damaged anchors.
5. Sloped Floors
The RMI specification presumes that warehouse floors are flat. It is designed around the assumption that there is no more than .5-inch in 10 feet of height that deviates from the true parallel with gravity. In the event that you need to install and anchor racks on a sloped floor, it's important to communicate with the rack designer to ensure everyone on the team is aware of this slope and its extent.
If you install and anchor racks perpendicular to the floor, take into account the nominal loads and other forces that will be created due to the slope.
6. Older Buildings
In older buildings, there might be both seen and unforeseen issues with the floor slab. Specifically, there could be cracks in the concrete or pieces missing from the floor. These can pose a challenge to your rack design.
If you're only anchoring in a few bays, you can choose a floor location in good condition. However, when you require multiple aisles, it's important to get an engineer on board to ensure that you aren't anchoring on or adjacent to a compromised area.
7. Seismic Activity
In some cases, your rack design will require a design review to account for any seismic forces present. The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) defines a specific seismic design category (SDC) to each region. If your facility is located in Seismic Design Category B and above, it faces the potential of earthquakes to varying degrees.
While the degrees, magnitude, and probability of such seismic activity will vary, it's critical to perform a design check for your particular loading check. If your facility is located in SDC A, there is not enough seismic activity present to warrant such a check. Note that seismic requirements are site-specific and your rack manufacturer should understand the following data points before beginning a rack installation:
8. Inspection and Maintenance
As soon as the installation is complete, it's important to develop processes and procedures for regularly scheduled storage rack system inspection and maintenance.
A qualified person who is intimately familiar with the rack design and installation requirements should perform these inspections. Due to their frequency of use, your storage racks should be inspected on a periodical basis to check for any signs of damage or wear and tear. An inspection should also follow immediately after any event that could possibly damage the rack system.
Individual owners can set their own inspection schedule based on their system use conditions. While inspections should be performed at least once a year, greater frequency is encouraged. Make sure to fully document the inspection schedule and all results.
9. Do I Need a Professional Engineer to Inspect Anchors?
Ideally, any rack anchoring system should be inspected by a professional engineer. This is especially the case if you make any repairs or changes to your rack storage system. If you're anchoring to any surface other than concrete, an engineer must be involved to ensure the floor system can support the rack load columns.
An engineer can reveal important details about your anchoring design, including:
While the rack manufacturer can also provide these important details, an engineer can ensure that your final design meets industry specifications. When researching rack manufacturers, look for those with the R-Mark seal from RMI on published capacity charts to ensure the product is in accordance with RMI specifications. In the case of special designs, both the R-Mark seal and a professional engineer's seal should be present.
10. Replacing Damaged Anchors
It's important to replace damaged anchors immediately. Any missing, loose, or broken anchors pose a direct threat to the integrity and safety of your products, as well as the safety of your employees.
Both the front and back upright footplate must be anchored securely to the floor. If either becomes unstable, check to ensure the floor underneath and around them hasn't been cracked or otherwise compromised before replacing them.
11. Protection From Impact (Forklifts, Pickers)
Although they're designed to resist force, your base plates and anchors are still susceptible to impact from forklifts, pickers, and other heavy-duty machinery. The aisle-facing rack columns are especially vulnerable due to their position.
There are a few ways you can protect your rack mount anchors and limit the effect of any impact. These include:
While these measures can help protect your rack system to some extent, routine forklift driver training is still required to ensure all employees know how to navigate the warehouse safely.
12. Other Methods of Stabilization
While floor anchors are the go-to way to stabilize your pallet racks, there are other methods of stabilization to consider.
For instance, you can add row spacers at the top that link two rack units together, allowing them to essentially function as a single unit. In this way, the two racks can support one another and increase stability. There are also myriad pallet racking protectors that can help prevent instability and safeguard the racks from accidental impact.
13. Height/Base Ratio
Per the RMI, the height-to-depth (or base) ratio of a single row of pallet rack is defined as the distance from the floor to the top beam level, divided by the frame depth.
Normal, double-row anchoring is usually enough to support racks with a height-to-depth ratio of 6:1 or less. If the ratio exceeds this, the anchors and base plates require a special design to ensure they do not overturn. If the ratio exceeds 8:1, the racks require supplemental stabilization via overhead ties. In this extreme case, a professional engineer must oversee and approve the anchoring design.
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14. Wall Anchoring vs Floor
While wall anchoring can be used as an alternative or supplemental stabilization method, this approach should only be considered in low-seismic areas. Even then, floor anchoring is preferred.
Why?
At any given time, forces from the building could transfer to the racks, and vice versa. Tying your racks to your walls causes both entities to become susceptible to sudden shifts and impacts. If wall ties are employed, the building engineer and rack engineer must coordinate the design and installation to ensure that any transmitted forces will not damage the rack or the structural building itself.
15. Unused Anchor Holes
Looking to install a wedge anchor into a concrete floor? If so, you might wonder how close you can install the anchor to a preexisting, unused anchor hole.
The MHI maintains that a wedge anchor can be located 3.0 bolt diameters away from an empty hole. This allows sufficient space to ensure that the pullout-capacity of the anchor is not reduced. To shorten this distance to only 1.5 bolt diameters, the empty hole can be filled with dry-pack mortar. Note that when you're planning your layout and determining the overall space required, it's best to use the larger diameter as a reference.
Ace Your Warehouse Racking Installation
Establishing the correct racking system can make all the difference in the speed, efficiency, and performance of your warehouse. Yet, a successful design doesn't happen overnight.
When you carefully consider the requirements necessary for an optimized warehouse racking installation, you can help ensure that the final product is safe, compliant, and in line with industry specifications.
Looking for industrial shelving to get your racking project started? That's where we come in.
We offer a wide variety of pallet racking systems in different widths, depths, and heights to meet any need. Feel free to browse our online inventory and contact us today to connect!
Pallet racking forms the backbone of the modern warehouse. These systems maximize storage space while allowing for the safe and easy retrieval of critical items. To the outsider, pallet racks all look alike — but upon close observation, you'll notice that each system has its own unique structure, with differences including everything from the type of steel to the shapes of the keyhole punches and even where these are situated.
Seemingly small distinctions can make a world of difference for pallet racking systems, influencing how easy they are to set up and how durable they'll prove in the long run. Below we'll provide a deep dive into all things pallet racking: which components are included, how these differ between various designs, and which manufacturers and products are most trusted.
Featuring horizontal rows that may occupy multiple levels, pallet racking systems are designed to store pallets, which are flat structures designed to keep goods stable. The pallet racks consist of uprights and beams, which form heavy-duty, yet adaptable storage structures. The basic function of this material handling solution is to store items in a way that maximizes available space while also promoting effective organization and efficient retrieval.
Despite their apparent simplicity, pallet racks come in many different forms. Their distinctions are typically most evident based on the size and shape of the punch holes located in the upright columns.
It is important to pay close attention to pallet rack styles when selecting beams and uprights, as these will not always be compatible with one another. This can be true even when pallet components share the same name but is especially likely when investing in used pallet racks.
Struggling to tell different pallet rack systems apart? Below, we've highlighted a few of the main pallet rack styles you can expect to encounter:
Teardrop (old style). The teardrop style has long been a trusted option. The original version of the teardrop featured holes in the uprights resembling upside-down teardrops. This design was meant to make the beams and uprights more secure. This was originally manufactured by Interlake but has since been adopted by many manufacturers due to its versatile design.
Teardrop (new style). After the original teardrop patent expired, Interlake created a newer design with hole shapes departing from the original upside-down teardrops. The new version's holes have more of a rectangular shape, but with a slight taper near the bottom. New style teardrop beams fit into old style uprights.
Teardrop (Mecalux punched style). Designed to work with other uprights and manufacturers, the Mecalux punched teardrop makes the most of the distinct upside-down teardrop shape. This unique option involves bolting the uprights together, rather than relying on welding.
Structural. Fabricated by hot-rolling structural steel channels, structural pallet racks can withstand a lot of wear and tear in harsh environments. This is a preferred option when heavy pallet loads are required. Made by many manufacturers, structural rack beams and uprights bolt together.
T-bolt. The T-bolt system features a rigid connection between the beam and the upright. These are usually easy to install, with the head inserted into the connector and column and then locked into place. A patented locking system prevents the bolt from disengaging when heavy loads are required.
Ridg-U-Rak slotted. Hook and slot beam-to-column connections distinguish the Ridg-U-Rak slotted system, which features six-bend, roll-formed columns that are meant to be as rigid and durable as possible.
Keystone. Also known as Republic pallet racks, Keystone designs have clip hooks with square tops, which are believed to allow for impressive strength-to-weight ratios. This boltless approach is also meant to optimize space and enhance efficiency.
Speedrack. As a top pallet racking supplier, Speedrack originally made its mark with a tubular design but has since been most noteworthy for its contributions to the eCommerce sector. A system of handle clips and J-hook pins limits the potential for detachment.
Harder to Find/Discontinued Styles
Many of the pallet racking solutions outlined above have been around for decades — but they remain as popular as ever. Other racking systems, however, can be more difficult to find. Some are manufactured abroad, while others have long since ceased production. Below we've provided details on several tough-to-find styles.
Dexion. Dexion standard pallet racks incorporate an inverted teardrop slot design, with round pins automatically locking in place at the narrow portion of the teardrop shape.
EMI. EMI is unique with diamond shapes for the holes including snap locks and clinch-roll beams with triple-thickness at the top.
Engineered Products. Compatible with a variety of major pallet racking brands, these pre-engineered boltless systems provide access to multiple connector designs, so rack elements can be interchanged as needed.
Frazier. As a leading producer of structural style racking, Frazier is best known for its Sentinel® system, which provides the best of both worlds: it's relatively easy to install and adjust, yet incredibly durable due to its use of structural steel. Thick gauge metal columns and strong channel corners lend these pallet racks a unique rugged appeal.
Frick Gallagher. No longer in production, these pallet racks can be incredibly difficult to find. The keyhole desgin on 4" centers associated with this pallet rack system resembles today's dominant teardrop designs.
Hallowell. Accommodating bulky items or high-clearance needs, Hallowell uprights feature keyhole slots that align with the beam rivets and allow for tight assembly.
Hi-Line. Round holes and unique space-saving solutions set Hi-Line products apart. Although these are roll-formed systems, they are of a heavier gauge due to the spacing of the holes.
Husky. Featuring teardrop punches and two-inch centers, bowlock safety clips provide peace of mind, allowing for taller builds without splicing.
Konstant. Konstant constructs customizable solutions from hot-rolled structural steel. Welded and bolted options are available to promote maximum versatility.
Lynx. This double-slotted solution involves three-inch centers and safety catches that are capable of mechanically locking into place. These systems are compatible with other double-slotted designs.
Lyon. MIG welded, incorporating cross-channel reinforcements to promote strength. The beams can be adjusted via tapered keyhole slots. Teardrop designs make these interchangeable with many other pallet-racking systems.
M-I-Rak. Positive locking device prevents accidental dislodging of beam while still allowing for adjustments. M-I-Rak is no longer manufactured and hard to find in the used market.
Pacific. Featuring a three-lock system known for durability and ease of installation. Pacific pallet racks are not currently manufactured.
Paltier. Like the Interlake teardrop systems referenced earlier, Paltier is divided into older and newer styles, distinguished by the shapes of the holes. For the older styles, these are more angular. The newer version is more rounded at the top.
Penco. Equipped with three-prong connections, safety lock tabs prevent dislodging, with the recessed safety key made highly visible.
Redirack. Redirack solutions come with six-point connections. These racking systems are highly customizable, and therefore, the go-to option for many Canadian enterprises. Redirack systems are more difficult to obtain in the U.S.
Sammons. Don't be confused by the hole shapes for these pallet racks, which resemble prominent teardrop designs. With Sammons, these involve four-inch centers and are strictly compatible with mushroom-shaped pins.
Slide N Lock. Featuring upright designs that utilize cotter pins, Slide N Lock pallet racks are now nearly impossible to acquire.
Sturdi-Bilt slotted. The Sturdi-Bilt system relies on a wedge lock clip system to keep beams in place. A strong friction connection promotes a degree of rigidity.
Webb-style. Sometimes referred to as Prest, both are follow up designs to the Slide N Lock style with the uprights having vertical slots.
Other difficult-to-acquire pallet solutions include:
While the many styles outlined above reveal just how significantly pallet racks can differ, there are a few central components worth mentioning:
Does your pallet racking system need specific upgrades? Or are you ready to start from scratch? Either way, the team at Warehouse1 can help you find the specific structures you need to improve warehouse efficiency, storage, and safety.
At Warehouse1, we offer a variety of pallet rack systems and accessories, plus insight into the best solutions for every situation. We're happy to help you design or locate the perfect pallet racking setup. Reach out today to learn more.
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