When it comes to running a successful business that is booming with sales, one of the few downsides can be the growing decline of space available in your warehouse and pallet racking system for stock.

It stands to reason that you wouldn’t want to slow down business or take less orders but the thought of spending more money to accommodate the rise in demand can be overwhelming.

In order to avoid overloading your pallet racking system and causing potential warehouse damage and safety issues for your staff, it is essential to take the right preventative measures in the early stages.

Unfortunately, the disastrous effects of overloaded pallet racking only become apparent when the problem is too far gone. At Advanced Handling & Storage, we are the pallet racking people and we’re here to tell you the dangers of overloading your pallet racking.

A staff safety risk

The most important thing to consider when operating a warehouse is the safety of your staff. Your warehouse workers are constantly in close proximity to bulky, large pallet racking equipment that will slowly become weaker over time if unnecessarily overloaded.

To avoid injury or worse, it is vital to ensure stock is evenly distributed throughout the warehouse and the correct pallet racking storage systems are in place. We also advise that you hire a SEMA-approved professional to carry out a thorough safety inspection of your racking.

Danger to your equipment

Secondly, in a busy operating warehouse, you will start to find that your equipment will struggle to cope. 

Machinery such as forklifts may buckle under the excessive weight of what they are being forced to carry. As well as this, your warehouse may even incur damage along the way as a result of tumbling pallet racking systems carrying heavy loads.

Overloaded pallet racking could also result in human error and more frequent accidents, such as dropping stock, misusing machinery, and generally costing your business more than you might think you are actually saving.

Damaged stock

When inventory is being overloaded onto your pallet racking system, it is no surprise that it will begin to damage and destroy stock.

The most common problem we see is that a pallet racking system will bear a load that exceeds the manufacturer’s recommended capacity, which will cause it to crumble and send all stock cascading onto the warehouse floor.

It has also been seen that densely packed goods can incur water damage or mould, depending on the conditions of which they are stored. 

Therefore, to avoid replacing or removing unfit stock as well as your entire pallet racking system, we advise acting pre-emptively to avoid this situation occurring.

If you are looking to replace your pallet racking or add to your warehouse space to improve operations, we have a wide range of new and second hand pallet racking available.

Contact us on 0800 345 7088 to discuss your storage needs, or email [email protected]. 

With us, support continues after the sale, and we strive to form strong customer relationships, providing you with dedicated advisors you can contact for any advice.