Overloading Your Pallet Racking System

When you are a growing business with booming sales volumes, one of the things that can be a downer is the decline of available space in your warehouse setting – especially around your pallet rack load capacity for stock.

The knock-on effect usually leads to a slow down in business and the ability to take orders, usually down to not wanting to spend more on solutions to accommodate the rise in demand. To avoid overloading your pallet racking system, posing potential damage to your warehouse and safety hazards to your staff, it is essential to take pre-emptive measures as early as possible.

Staff Safety

The disastrous effects of overloading industrial storage racks typically are apparent after the problem has gone too far. The safety of your staff is the most important element of running a successful warehouse operation, and it becomes too easy to put that to the back of your thinking when it gets hectic.

Your staff work around bulky, large pallet racking equipment that has the risk of becoming weaker when constantly overloaded. To avoid the potential injuries to staff, evenly distribute your stock throughout the warehouse and look at the potential to extend your racking upwards. Safety inspections by a SEMA-approved professional should also be a regular operation to identify any risks posed in your system.

Equipment Danger

The second biggest risk is one of your equipment within a busy operating warehouse. Machinery such as forklifts may not be able to handle the excessive weights of what they have to carry.

Your warehouse may incur damage along the way from the effects of tumbling pallet racking systems carrying an exceptionally heavy load. Overloaded pallet racking could result in a fair share of human error and frequent accidents, such as dropping stock, machinery misuse and costs to the business that are more than what you are saving.

Stock Loss

When a system is overloaded, your stock will see more and more signs of damage – if not being destroyed completely. More commonly, pallet racking systems in this climate will exceed the manufacturer’s recommended capacity and see the system crumble, sending all stock falling to the warehouse floor and becoming a loss.

Densely packed goods can also incur water damage or mould depending on the conditions they are stored within. To avoid replacing or removing unfit stock as well as the entire pallet racking system, pre-emptive action will avoid the problems and keep your warehouse operating as it should without loss.

If you are looking to upgrade your pallet racking, pallet rack load capacity, or add suitable warehouse storage equipment to improve your operations, contact the team at Monarch Shelving today.