COLORADO, DON’T LET YOUR PALLET RACKS GET ROCKY
DETECT & ADDRESS DEFLECTION ON Pallet Rack UPRIGHTS, STRUTS & BEAMS
Pallet racking is likely an essential part of your Colorado warehouse helping meet your needs for efficient and safe storage. Therefore, it’s incumbent upon warehouse management to ensure that your storage racking is in tip-top condition.
Performing regular pallet rack inspections for things like forklift damage, overloading, and missing components is the best way to ensure your rack can function as intended. While forklift damage and missing components are typically easy to spot, deflection due to overloading is a bit trickier but no less dangerous.
Deflection refers to the degree to which a rack component is bent or displaced under a load. It can occur within a structural or roll-formed system and affect beams, uprights, and struts. A moderate degree of deflection is allowable, but there’s a fine line between permissible and unsafe. Let us walk you through the process of assessing deflection for uprights, beams, and struts.
Download our Checklist to help ensure you cover the basics of a rack inspection. Follow the steps below to measure acceptable pallet rack deflection based on RMI guidelines.
PALLET RACK UPRIGHT DEFLECTION
When evaluating upright damage, examine uprights from front to back, down aisle, and at the corners of columns. Check for any bending or deflection in upright columns that measures more than ½” at the widest point. Uprights with a greater than ½” deflection gap requires repair and should be unloaded while awaiting a proper repair kit. If there is a space between a seismic backer and a column, record it as damaged.
UPRIGHT DEFLECTION
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Corner Deflection:
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HOW TO MEASURE STRUT DEFLECTION
Struts are a key foundational element and play a critical role in the structural integrity of a pallet rack system. When evaluating strut deflection, check to see if the strut bends more than ½”. Frequently, strut damage happens in the lower section of an upright.
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HOW TO MEASURE PALLET RACK BEAM DEFLECTION
Pallet rack beams are meant to be perfectly flat horizontally, so if your beam is bending, you need to assess it and address the cause. Divide the length of a beam (measuring from the inside of the columns) by 180. In the example above, the 96″ beam length is divided by 180, which equals .53 or about a ½”. If the deflection gap equals or is greater than ½”, a beam is deemed overloaded and hazardous.
LOAD PLAQUES ARE GUIDE POSTS FOR SAFE CAPACITY
To ensure proper pallet rack function and decrease the likelihood of warehouse accidents; every pallet rack system has a maximum load capacity. The method to ensure that you’re operating within recommended load capacity is to check the load plaques. Each manufacturer provides load plaques specific to each pallet rack system configuration. Load plaques should be mounted at the end of each aisle for each system. Stringent observance of load capacities will help to reduce the likelihood of deflection.
The load plaque will detail:
- The maximum allowable unit load (combined weight of product and its storage container/pallet) and/or the maximum uniformly distributed load (UDL) per level.
- The typical unit load (calculated as the highest total anticipated product weight of all beam levels in any row, divided by the number of beam levels on that row), if applicable.
- The maximum total load per bay.
- Indicate storage levels that support stacking multiple unit loads.
THE APEX RACK REPAIR APP TO THE RESCUE
Download the Apex Rack Repair Mobile App to help you with your rack inspections. It is a free app that will walk you through a rack inspection and gather all the necessary specs to order a custom repair kit if needed. It also connects you to the Apex PROs, who will evaluate the results of your inspection and give a detailed damage report and customized repair solution if needed.
There are two ways to use the Apex Rack Repair App:
- DIY – Perform self-guided pallet rack inspection using our app. When done, upload your findings to the Apex Colorado PROs for evaluation and prompt response addressing any safety-compromising concerns.
- Leave it to the professionals – Call the Apex PROs for a comprehensive inspection and warehouse safety review. Our certified rack inspectors will come to you and perform a thorough examination and warehouse safety evaluation using the Rack Repair App.
The Apex Guarantee – Whether using the App or working with the Apex PROs, we guarantee you will receive a comprehensive rack inspection report with an independent repair solution.
Pallet rack deflection can be hazardous if not detected and addressed. Contact your local experts at Apex Colorado to design and maintain your pallet rack. We are your local full-service storage solutions and material handling provider. Our team will work with you to choose the right solution for your needs. We also have professional installation and rack repair teams that will ensure your system is built to meet all safety regulations.
