Rackable Wire Baskets & Steel Containers for Pallet Racking

Why would someone want a rackable wire basket or steel container when the baskets and containers can stack on themselves? One word, “Selectivity”. If rackable wire baskets are stacked 3 or 4 high you can only pick the top basket and have to go through the process of unstacking baskets if you need the one at the bottom. When baskets and container are stored in rack you have the ability to access and pick each and every one of them from the aisle at any time.

If you are going to store wire baskets or containers in high bay pallet rack or any pallet rack system you really better know what you are doing. Otherwise you could create a dangerous situation. Steel rackable containers and wire Baskets typically have feet and when stored in racking the entire weight of the container and it’s contents comes down on the feet. That is called a point load and point loads can be dangerous. At the very least point loads and feet of baskets can destroy your decking.

Speaking of decking, you must make sure you have the proper decking that can support a container, it’s feet and a potential point load. Some options include heavy duty bar grate decking or custom heavy duty wire decking with steel top plates which we offer. The wrong decking, like wood decking, wire mesh decking (if basket doesn’t have runners) or no decking can fail and cause the container to come crashing to the floor.

One of the very first questions you must ask yourself is can I fit two baskets or containers wide on my shelf? Do I have enough room? The most common wire basket size if 40″ deep x 48″ wide and if you plan on storing two 48″ wide containers on your shelf you had better have a beam that is longer than 96″ because to 48″ wide wire containers will not fit on a 96″ wide beam.

Now let’s talk about the depth of your rack? Is it the appropriate size for the depth of your container? Will it offer proper fit and support? If the depth of your container to too narrow and resting on the decking then you better make sure that the decking has sufficient capacity to support the load. You also don’t want the rack depth to be too narrow and have the container overhang too far off the front and back of the rack.

What is the solution? This is where we earn our money. We recommend you purchase steel or wire container that has steel runners that can evenly distribute the weight over the width and depth of the shelf. Either 2-way runners that run in one direction or 4 way runners that run in all four directions. And speaking of runners, if the basket is picked up by pallet jacks with wheels you will want flat steel runners that allow wheels of pallet jack to roll over. If only handled by forklift we recommend steel angle runners which are more rigid and strong.

NOTE FROM THE PRO’S: STANDARD WIRE DECKING CAN SUPPORT BASKETS AND CONTAINERS ONLY IF THEY HAVE RUNNERS AND RUNNERS ARE PROPERLY DESIGNED AND SUPPORTED. WE LIKE TO SEE 2-WAY RUNNERS THAT CROSS THE CHANNELS SUPPORTS OF THE WIRE DECKING AND ARE ALSO SUPPORTED BY FRONT & BACK ORANGE LOAD BEAMS. FOR EXTRA SAFETY WE RECOMMEND ADDING 4-WAY RUNNERS OR RUNNERS ON ALL 4 SIDES.

JUST AN IDEA: SAY YOU HAVE THE MOST COMMON 96″ BEAMS AND YOU WANT TO STORE TWO 48″ WIDE X 40″ DEEP CONTAINERS WIDE ON A SHELF HERE’S AN IDEA. LET US DESIGN A CUSTOM WIRE BASKET OR CONTAINER THAT IS 40″ WIDE (SIDE FACING THE AISLE) AND 48″ DEEP. WE CAN MOVE THE DROP GATE FROM THE LONG 48″ SIDE TO THE SHORTER 40″ SIDE AND ADD STEEL RUNNERS. AND WHILE WERE AT IT LET US DESIGN AND SUPPLY A DECKING SOLUTION THAT IS BOTH SAFE AND AFFORDABLE. IF YOU BUY THE RACK, DECKING AND CONTAINERS FROM US YOU CAN COUNT ON US DOING IT THE RIGHT WAY AND MOST IMPORTANTLY DOING IT SAFE.