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Understanding Drive-In / Drive-Through Pallet Rack Systems

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When it comes to setting up your storage facility, it can be difficult to determine what type of pallet rack system will work best for your application. The system that provides maximum efficiency for high-density storage is either drive-in or drive-through pallet racking. These two systems are similar in style, but they differ based on how pallets are loaded and unloaded. Learn more about the components of both drive-in and drive-through pallet racks as well as their benefits for your storage facility.

Components of the Systems

Drive-in and drive-through pallet racking systems are comprised of uprights and rail beams. The uprights provide vertical support, and the rail beams are used for pallet storage that is extremely dense. In this system, product is stored both back-to-back and floor-to-ceiling. This means that on average, you can store seven times more product when compared to another pallet rack system. Drive-in and drive-through pallet racks can also be connected to a standard pallet rack or customized design.

Drive-In vs. Drive-Through

The difference between drive-in and drive-through pallet rack systems lies in the way that pallets are stocked and picked. With the drive-in system, the forklift will only load and unload pallets on one side of the racks. It is referred to as “drive-in” because the truck drives into the system using only one side. Drive-in pallet racking is best suited to a last in, first out (LIFO) system and for products that do not need to be moved at a fast rate.

Drive-through pallet racking involves the forklift loading pallets on one side and unloading pallets on the opposite side. In this system, the truck uses rails to unload and load product after driving into the racks themselves. Drive-through pallet racking is best suited to first in, last out (FILO) systems because it is useful for products that move quickly.

Benefits of Drive-In/Drive-Through Pallet Racking

Both drive-in and drive-through pallet rack systems bring significant advantages to high-density storage applications. If you have a large inventory of products that have the same SKU, this style of pallet racking is the right choice. Drive-in and drive-through pallet rack systems are very simple to install, and they also do not require any overhead attachment when located in a standard warehouse. However, when they are supported by overhead attachments or ties, they are beneficial for use in a freezer.

In addition, drive-in and drive-through pallet racking is incredibly efficient and increases productivity by reducing the time spent on stocking and picking. These systems are also energy efficient – because the product is stored so densely, you will save on fuel costs for your lift trucks as well as heating and cooling for your warehouse.

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What Our Customers Are Saying

"Over the past 12 years I have had the pleasure of working with Chris Summers and Mark Horwitz with Material Handling Exchange. Over this period of time I have had the pleasure of working with them on large and small projects whether I was selling (or) buying uprights, beams, wire decking, shelving, carts and pick-modules from Chris and Mark. They have always been helpful and friendly. They treat you more like a friend than just a customer and that goes for to entire staff at Material Handling Exchange. They will go out of their way to help you whether your needing racking, shelving or anything necessary to equip your facility. I can’t express just how much they have helped me over the years. Now that Material Handling Exchange has the capability of manufacturing racking they can beat anyone’s price and supply you with quality racking!!"

MMBurch

"Great response time, follow up and delivery. The product was in great shape and the communication never faltered."

Teresa Jones

"Mark Horwitz is a pleasure to deal with. The material was delivered timely and the quality was there. We will definitely be doing business again."

Brian Lowers

"Very satisfied with our experience purchasing from MHE. Orders were processed in a timely manner and we look forward to doing more business with them in the very near future."

Mark Crosby

"Great experience!"

Curtis Feucht

"Excellent Service"

Wayne Musser

"Good service, good price"

John B

"Great company to work with."

Sam Tucker

"Quick and exactly what I ordered!"

David Gruber

"Great service & fast response times!"

Kevin Murray

"Always a pleasure to do business with!!!"

Kent

"GREAT CUSTOMER SERVICE!
GREAT SELECTION!"

Mike Noss

"Always professional and easy to work with."

Steve Newburg

"Great company, Very helpful and knowledgeable"

James

"MHE has been very helpful under tight time restraints"

Doug Temposky

"GREAT CUSTOMER SERVICE AND A SERVICE TECHNICIAN WITH LOADS OF KNOWLEDGE"

Paula

"Good company to work with , very responsive to emails, good quality product"

Ben Gilb

"Easy to work with and easy to communicate with about quotes, questions or any issues"

HenryUSA

"Quick quoting and delivery process. Understands what we are looking for. Very competitive pricing."

Greg Salway

"This is the fourth order I have sent to MHE. Always recieved the racking in good order as promised."

Allen

"MHE is a top notch company. If you are in the market for new or used racking I highly recommend this company!"

Charlie Williamson

"Aaron R was very helpful and responsive to our needs! Quoted quickly and helped solve the problem we were having."

Brandon Sutor

"Made multiple purchases, quality products and service for a great price. We will buy from in the future. Thanks again from Ashland Conveyor"

Bobby Ray
Ashland Conveyor

"I have worked with MHE for a year or so. They have helped me with old racking repair parts as well as new racks for our shop floor and warehouse. There team has been very helpful."

Kevin Glieden

"All items were as advertised and in far better condition that expected for be used. Everything arrived quickly and well packaged. Very nice folks to work with."

Spencer Johnson

"MHE has always responded quickly to our requests for quotes and availability of product. The customer service/sales staff are quick and eager to assist our needs and prices are competitive."

Alex Darling

"Chris Summers is always very helpful and gets our quotes to us in a timely manner. If we have a question he’s quick to answer and goes out of his way to provide us excellent customer service."

Jennifer Liebert
Gotta Go Surplus

"Have used MHE several times and it is a good experience each time. I have worked with Chris S. and he has been very helpful as well. They do what they say…what more can you ask for."

Paul Doggett

"MHE was easy to work with and quickly provided the racking we required at a reasonable price. We would definitely recommend them to anyone who is looking to procure warehouse materials."

Mike

"Material Handling Exchange employees were knowledgeable, helpful, and involved throughout the design and installation. Very easy to work with. The installation crew were professional and easy to work with."

Mike

"We have been outfitting a new 14,000 sqft warehouse with new racking. We worked with MHE a couple years ago and had great experience with getting everything specced out and rated for our needs. We had to get racks custom made for the specific work we do. Their prices were very competitive. We went back and ordered another quantity from them last year. We will likely be ordering more from them in the future. The only issue we had was the delivery. The trucking company they used didn’t brace everything and some of the racking fell off the pallets in the truck. It took us several hours to partially hand-unload a full 53 foot trailer. That was the trucking company though. MHE was great."

Erich

"Working with Bradly Cross and Ms Herbert in shipping was great. I had some problems with my shipper and they were very responsive to my needs for photos to help find the mis-shipped material."

Rob Smith
Action Industrial Service

"From layout and design to pricing and delivery M.H.E is the best material handling company I have used. The professionalism from beginning to end has ensured they will be my supplier in the future and i recommend that they become your’s as well."

Russ

"I always have a great response when requesting quotes from MHE. When ordering, they always keep me in the loop, letting me know within hours when my product will be delivered. Courteous with all phone calls and emails. I will keep them in my sights when I need any type of racking."

Judy Hill

"I would recommend Material Handling exchange to anyone and everyone that deals with pallet racking cantilever and small store shelving. I’ve been dealing with Material Handling for a few years now an they have never let me down even on messed up orders the product is Rush delivered immediately. Hats off to Brad Cross and his crew there."

Joey

"Gleaners Food Bank recently contracted with MHE to install racking in our cooler rooms and Material Handling Exchange was great to work with. They were very responsive to our needs and gave us very reasonable pricing. The install team that came to our facility was outstanding; they worked safely and cleaned the work areas meticulously once the work was completed.

We will absolutely use Material Handling Exchange for future projects in our DC."

Neil M. Underhill

"I had MHE design and build cantilever rack for our cabinet manufacturing company. the sales person I worked with was knowledgable of how our business works and knew exactly what we needed. This order was a custom build due to the limited ceiling height we have to work with in out plant. when we received our cantilever order we built and loaded it with lumber. everthing works great."

John

"Hands down the best company for racking I have worked with in my 15+ years. The racking is clean,safe,strong and easy to put up fast. I would also say that the sales team is right there if anything comes up with the job. All my questions where answered quick and they made sure to go over every detail to ensure I got the correct racking for my application. My company is located in North Carolina and there was no problems with shipping and was fast to get to us."

Todd Sigler

"Starting at the beginning of this year I have been dealing with Mr. Horwitz. He has been very helpful and accomodating to our needs here at Newegg. He is very knowledgeable and prompt when offering quotations. Once orders are in the process the rest of his team communicates at a very professional level. We’ve ordered from them several times already this year and will continue to do so in the future."

Todd Herman

"We’ve done business a handful of times with MHE. It’s always a problem-free experience. Whether we’re picking up a small order from their warehouse directly or having them ship an order to our shop, the order is always accurate. Prompt shipments. Good quality used stock. New stock is fairly priced. Their sales staff is always personable and checks over orders to make sure you didn’t overlook anything. We have no reason to buy from anyone else."

Michael Bartoli

"Excellent products."

Benavidez L.

Past Customers

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