If you’re storing steel or wire bulk containers with feet directly on pallet rack wire decking, you need to read this. Without proper runners, you’re creating a serious safety hazard that could lead to catastrophic failure, product loss, and possibly injured workers. This isn’t a minor technical issue or an optional upgrade. This is an important safety concern that warehouse managers need to understand. The problem affects facilities across the country, but many operations continue storing containers improperly because they’re either unaware of the risks or underestimate the consequences.
Wire decking in general is engineered to safely support palletized loads that spread weight evenly across the surface. But bulk containers typically feature four or more small feet that concentrate the entire load into very small surface areas. This creates what engineers call point loads, and they’re wire decking’s worst enemy. When these point loads are applied directly to wire decking, they can easily exceed the deck’s rated capacity, even if the total weight seems well within safe limits. The problem isn’t the total weight; it’s how the weight is distributed. The feet focus thousands of pounds into tiny contact points rather than spreading it across the deck channels. Without runners to bridge the space between deck supports and transfer the load to the pallet rack beams, you’re setting yourself up for failure that can happen gradually through sagging and bending. But sometimes failure comes suddenly and with no warning.
When wire decking fails under point load stress, the results can be devastating. Containers crash through the racking system, sending thousands of pounds of steel and product crashing to the floor below. This destroys valuable materials and equipment, but the real danger is to your employees. A falling container can cause serious injuries or fatalities. The nightmare doesn’t end there, as damage to the rack structure itself can compromise adjacent bays, increasing the risk of a chain-reaction collapse that jeopardizes your entire system’s integrity. We’re not talking about hypothetical scenarios. This happens in warehouses across the country when facilities cut corners on storage accessories or don’t understand the engineering principles at work. The financial costs include damaged inventory, destroyed racking, potential OSHA violations, workers’ comp claims, and facility downtime. The human costs can be far worse.
Preventing these hazards is fairly simple. Containers with feet must always be equipped with steel runners or placed on solid steel decking designed to handle point loads. Runners distribute the container’s weight evenly across the wire decking and directly onto the pallet rack beams. This simple addition increases safety significantly and almost completely eliminates the risk of decking failure from point loads. Your investment in the right runners or solid decking pays for itself over time by protecting your inventory, racking system, and workers.
Don’t wait for a failure. Take action. If you’re storing containers with feet on wire decking without runners, you’re operating on borrowed time. This isn’t just good practice. It’s an essential component of responsible warehouse management and worker safety.