Drive-In Racking is a high-density storage system designed to maximize warehouse floor space by eliminating aisles. It allows forklifts to drive directly into the lanes of the rack structure to deposit or retrieve pallets.
Key Benefits
- A high-density product storage solution, maximizing warehouse space.
- Popular in Food, Beverage, Chemical, Tobacco, Cooking Oil Industries, especially in Cold Warehouses.
- Forklifts move into the racking for inbound and outbound.
- FILO, First In Last Out.
Features Of Drive In Racking
Considerations
- Slow Operation: Forklifts must maneuver carefully within the narrow structure, making loading and unloading slower than other systems.
- Risk of Damage: Because trucks drive inside the rack, there is a higher risk of accidental collisions with uprights (column guards are highly recommended).
- Limited Access: You can only reach the front-most pallet. To get to the one behind it, the front one must be moved.
How It Works
- LIFO Principle: It typically operates on a Last-In, First-Out basis. The first pallet put into the lane is the last one to come out.
- Support Rails: Instead of horizontal beams across the aisle, pallets rest on side rails that run the full depth of the lane.
- Loading Process: Forklifts enter the rack from one side, stacking pallets from the back to the front and from the bottom up.
Ideal For
- Low SKU counts with high pallet quantities (e.g., beverages, raw materials).
- Non-perishable goods or items with long shelf lives.
- Cold Storage & Freezers where the cost of chilled air makes high-density storage essential.