Which pallets are safe in pallet racking?

A pallet in a beam rack is a bridge. The load goes down through the top boards, into the bearers, out through the bottom boards and onto two beams. Any pallet that was not built to be a bridge, or has a cracked bearer, is the one that comes down.

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Quick answer

Which pallets are safe in pallet racking?

Safe in pallet racking: new and grade A hardwood standard pallets, 2 tonne heavy duty pallets and rackable plastic pallets, all built to sit on beams. Grade B goes up after a check of the bearers and bottom boards. One way, economy, light export and nestable plastic pallets stay on the floor. Check bearers, bottom boards and squareness at receipt, and count the pallet's own weight in the load sign under AS 4084.

By type and grade

Which pallet grades can go into beam racking?

Pallet	In racking?	Why
New hardwood standard 1165	Yes	Full top deck, sound bearers, bottom boards that span both beams.
Grade A hardwood standard	Yes	Square and rigid, every board present, no protruding nails. Built and graded for racking and customer facing loads.
Heavy duty hardwood, 2 tonne rated	Yes, for dense freight	Thicker bearers and a full deck rated for 2 tonnes on beams.
Grade B standard	With a check	Sound, with a mark or one repaired board. Fine on beams if the bearers are uncracked and the bottom boards are all there; check each one at receipt.
Grade C, economy or one way	No	Built for one trip on a truck floor. Thin boards, light bearers, often a partial bottom deck. Floor stack only.
Export pallet, softwood	No, unless rated	Made light to save freight. Ask for the rating; most are floor and container pallets.
Plastic, rackable	Yes, to its rating	Moulded with ribs or steel bars to carry a load across beams. The rating is moulded into the pallet.
Plastic, nestable	No	Flexes between beams. Floor and transport use only, or on timber decking laid across the beams.
Euro 1200 x 800	Only in racking set up for it	Australian racking is sized for a 1165 pallet. A Euro pallet needs the right beam depth or support bars, so ask the racking supplier before the first one goes up.

The grades above are the ones written on every 360 quote, and the pallet guide has a page for each type with its spec table.

The check at receipt

How do I check a pallet before it goes up?

01Bearers firstSight along each bearer. A crack across the grain, a missing chunk at a fork notch, or a bearer that has been nailed back together takes the pallet off the rack list, whatever the top deck looks like.
02Bottom boardsThe pallet sits on its bottom boards. Every board that lands on a beam has to be there and sound. A pallet with a missing bottom board can slip between the beams under load.
03Top deckBoards flat and fixed, no protruding nails, no board that moves under a boot. Gaps matter less for racking than for the stock sitting on them.
04Square and flatA racked pallet that rocks on the beams is a pallet that will shift when the forklift pulls the next one out. If it rocks on the floor it will rock on the beam.
05Load to the signEvery rack run carries a load sign under the Australian steel storage racking standard, AS 4084. The pallet's own weight is part of that load, which is why the heavy duty pallet under dense stock is counted at 50 kg before a carton goes on.

On the beams

How should a pallet sit on the beams?

Square to the beams, with a small and even overhang front and back, so the bottom boards bear on both beams along their full width. A pallet pushed hard to the back of the bay hangs its front bottom board in fresh air; one pulled forward does the same at the back. The forklift driver sets it, and the load sign and bay layout tell them where.

Where the pallet is undersized for the bay, a Euro pallet, a half pallet or a nestable plastic pallet, do not improvise. Pallet support bars or timber decking across the beams carry the load the pallet cannot. Your racking supplier will specify them for the beam, and they are cheaper than the alternative.

Pooled pallets, CHEP and Loscam, are rated for racking by the pool. They are not ours to sell or collect, and the pool's own inspection rules apply to them.

Inspect at receipt, not at the bay. A damaged pallet found on the forks is already a problem.
Keep one grade in the rack run. Mixing one way pallets into a racked lane is how a good lane gets a bad pallet.
Downgrade, do not repair on site. A pallet with a cracked bearer becomes a repairable core, credited against the next collection.
Count damaged pallets out of the rack stock and into the clearance stack, then book the pickup when the stack is worth sending.

Getting the right pallet

Say it is going into racking and the quote says the grade.

Tell us the load per pallet and that it goes onto beams, and the quote names new, grade A or heavy duty with the rating, in writing. Priced the same business day when you ask before 2pm, delivered from Prestons across Greater Sydney, Wollongong, the Central Coast and Newcastle.

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Questions about pallets in racking

Can I put a one way pallet in racking?

No. One way and economy pallets are built for a single trip on a truck floor, with light boards and bearers and often a partial bottom deck. They belong on the floor or in a container, never on beams.

Is a grade B pallet safe in racking?

Usually, with a check. A grade B pallet is sound with a mark or one repaired board. If every bearer is uncracked and every bottom board is present it can go up. If a bearer or a bottom board is in doubt, it goes to floor stock.

Can plastic pallets go in racking?

Rackable plastic pallets can, up to the rating moulded into them. Nestable plastic pallets cannot; they flex between beams. On a site with both, keep them in separate stacks so the wrong one never reaches the forks.

Does the pallet's own weight count towards the rack load?

Yes. The load sign on the rack run is for everything the beams carry, pallet included. A 50 kg heavy duty pallet under 1,500 kg of stock is 1,550 kg on the beam pair.

What standard covers pallet racking in Australia?

AS 4084, the Australian standard for steel storage racking, covers design, installation and safe use, including the load signs on every run. The pallet is not covered by the racking standard, which is why the pallet grade and the receipt check matter.

Can I rack a Euro pallet in standard Australian racking?

Only if the racking was set up for it. Australian beam racking is sized for a 1165 x 1165 pallet. A 1200 x 800 Euro pallet needs the right beam depth or pallet support bars, so ask your racking supplier before the first one goes up.

Prefer to talk? Call Jayden on 0494 820 639. Not sure what you have on the floor? What pallet is this tells you from a tape measure and a photo.

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