Material handling equipment is engineered, not commodity. Capacity ratings, beam dimensions, deck weights, anchor patterns, fire-protection clearances, and seismic ratings all matter, and getting them wrong can stop operations, fail audits, or worse.
This guide walks through the decisions that matter when sizing racking, shelving, mezzanines, and dock equipment to your operation.
Click through to capacity guides and spec resources for each category.
Selective gives 100% pallet access at the lowest cost per position. Drive-in and push-back trade access for density (LIFO); pallet flow delivers FIFO for high-throughput. Spec by pallet weight, beam length, upright depth, seismic zone, and fire clearance.
Wire, rivet, boltless, and heavy-duty steel, sized to your SKU profile and load. Wire decking improves sprinkler flow and visibility. Choose by shelf load, opening height, and whether you need static or mobile.
Multi-tier storage that doubles or triples usable footprint without new construction. Steel grating, bar grating, or resin-board decking depending on load and code. Plan for egress, column spacing, and any permit or stamped-drawing requirements.
Security cages, tool cribs, DEA drug storage, tenant cages, and driver access cages. Spec by mesh gauge, panel height, door type, and any compliance requirement (DEA Title 21, chain-of-custody). Modular so you can reconfigure later.
Heavy-duty, ESD-safe, or ergonomic depending on the task. Size for packout, assembly, or repair, and add power, lighting, and storage. Capacity and surface material matter for tooling and heavy components.
Gravity, powered, accumulation, and sortation for high-throughput operations. Match by product weight, speed, and whether you need merge, divert, or scan integration. Layout drives labor and throughput more than any single component.
Your inspector, insurer or DEA registration may reference one of these. Tell us which apply when you request a quote and we factor them into the spec:
Weigh storage density against pallet access for your SKU mix, and pick the racking type that matches how your operation actually picks.
READ MOREStart with the trucks that actually arrive, then work forward to leveler type, service range, seal versus shelter, and the safety equipment that is not optional.
READ MOREUniform live load, concentrated load, and rolling load, plus the code items that change the quote after you thought it was settled.
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