Racking type
Adjustable pallet racking
Adjustable pallet racking is frames, beams and an aisle in front of every pallet. Where most warehouses start, and what it costs in floor.
The system
What adjustable pallet racking is, and how a bay works.
Move
Both levels are full. Choose a level and pick a pallet: the oldest pallet standing comes out, because nothing is in front of it.
Adjustable pallet racking, also called selective racking or APR, is upright frames with beams hooked between them, every pallet one deep behind its own aisle. It’s the default warehouse storage system: any pallet is reachable at any time, and the levels move with the stock.
A UK pallet is 1,200 by 1,000mm and a Euro pallet 1,200 by 800mm, both across beams on frames 900mm or 1,100mm deep, two or three pallets to a bay. Overhanging loads deepen the frame and cost bays along the wall.
The cost is floor: roughly half a selective layout becomes aisle, which drive-in racking, push-back racking, pallet live racking and double deep racking buy back and pay for in access.
How it works
How a bay is loaded, and how it gives its pallets back.
Every pallet sits on its own pair of beams, one deep, with an aisle in front.
Put away anywhere
The truck works from the aisle and sets the pallet on any free beam pair.
Pick from anywhere
Every pallet faces the aisle, so any of them comes out, FIFO or LIFO.
Re-pitch as stock changes
Beams unhook and reset in 50mm steps, so a run re-pitches without new steel.
Where it fits
Where it fits, and where it does not.
Suits
- Many lines, none big enough for a lane of its own.
- Frequent picking, most lines moving most days.
- Mixed pallet sizes and overhanging loads.
- Stock profiles that keep changing.
- Counterbalance or reach trucks, no specialist fleet.
Does not suit
- A few products in very large volumes.
- Buildings short of floor.
- Cold stores, where aisle is volume chilled for nothing.
Common sectors
- Retail distribution
- E-commerce fulfilment
- Manufacturing
- Third-party logistics (3PL)
- Automotive
Against its siblings
Five configurations on three axes.
Density, selectivity and affordability decide most racking choices. The scores are judgements, not measurements, read down a column against the other four.
AdjustableThis page. Density 40 of 100, selectivity 96, affordability 100.
Drive-inDensity 96 of 100, selectivity 25, affordability 65.
Push-backDensity 75 of 100, selectivity 62, affordability 48.
Pallet liveDensity 85 of 100, selectivity 40, affordability 30.
Double deepDensity 60 of 100, selectivity 55, affordability 82.
Specifying it
What moves the cost, and what a survey has to record.
The variables a proposal is built from, and what a survey records before anything is drawn. None is priced on its own.
- 01
Height
Clear height is cheap capacity; taller frames need heavier sections and a flatter floor.
- 02
Bay load
Pallet weight times the pallets per level sets the beam section.
- 03
Number of positions
Cost per position falls as the scheme grows.
- 04
Frame duty
The frame series follows every level added up.
- 05
Floor fixings and protection
The slab decides the fixings; base plates and end barriers are drawn in.
- 06
Installation
An empty shell goes up fast. Out-of-hours phasing around a live operation costs more.
The survey
Recorded before anything is drawn.
- Internal dimensions, and the floor clear of doors and routes.
- Clear height to steel, sprinklers, lights and heaters.
- Where the columns fall.
- Slab flatness and loading.
- Truck type, lift height and aisle width.
- Pallet sizes and loaded weights, overhangs included.
Safety
What keeps it safe in use.
Adjustable racking is safe when it is designed for its load, fixed down, marked with its capacity and inspected on a cycle somebody keeps. Racking is work equipment, and the operator carries the duty.
- Load notices on every run, stating capacity and beam configuration.
- Upright protection at run ends and aisle entries.
- Rack inspections on a cycle, damage graded and acted on.
- A route to report damage the day it happens.
- Driver training on the aisle widths and lift heights.
- Beam locks fitted, so a rising fork cannot lift a beam out.
Questions
Adjustable pallet racking, common questions
What is adjustable pallet racking?
Adjustable pallet racking, also called APR or selective racking, is upright frames with beam pairs between them and an aisle at every bay. Every pallet is one deep, reached without moving another.
How high can adjustable pallet racking be installed?
Adjustable pallet racking routinely reaches 12 metres and higher, and the building usually sets the limit. Clear height, truck lift height and floor flatness decide it; flatness matters above about 8 metres.
Can the beam levels be moved after installation?
Yes. Beams unhook and reset in 50mm steps, so a run re-pitches for a new product without new steel. Refit the beam locks, and reissue the load notice if the capacity changed.
Which forklift trucks work with adjustable pallet racking?
Counterbalance and reach trucks both work with adjustable pallet racking, and the choice sets the aisle width. A counterbalance carries its load ahead of the front wheels, so it needs the wider aisle.
Is adjustable pallet racking the cheapest racking system?
Adjustable pallet racking is usually the cheapest per pallet position, on the most widely stocked components of any pallet system. It isn't the cheapest way to store a fixed quantity, since half the floor becomes aisle.
Next step
Start with the pallet, not the racking
Send the internal dimensions, the pallets and the trucks, and we'll send back a layout and a costed proposal.