Drive-In Racking 101

What do you store in your warehouse? Are you looking for an even more dense storage system? Warehouses usually share one common goal—maximize space and value. Drive-in racking is one of the best pallet racking systems for maximizing space. It has potential to multiply the amount of usable storage square footage in your warehouse.

Finding the right kind of pallet racking for your warehouse can be a challenge if you don’t know the differences between each type of racking. Drive-in racking is a versatile solution and unique type of racking for warehouses and distribution facilities. Learn more about the advantages and disadvantages of drive-in pallet racking to see if it could be the right fit for your pallet storage.

Things to Know About Drive-In Racking

Drive-in racking is most widely used in the manufacturing and food and beverage industries, and its structural design is typically engineered to comply with Rack Manufacturers Institute (RMI) and ANSI MH16.1 standards for rack design and installation. This dense storage system requires much less aisle space compared to other types of racking, making it ideal for cooler and freezer applications. Use less energy with a more efficient use of your space. Additionally, for a large inventory of products with the same SKU, drive-in racks provide dense storage for non-perishable products or products with a low turnover. This is because pallets that are loaded first will be harder to access, because they slide to the back of the system over time as more pallets are loaded onto the system in front of them.

With drive-in racking, pallet racks have lanes for forklift access that essentially have an unlimited amount of depth. The most common drive-in racks are generally designed to be between 6-8 pallets deep. Having such a dense system with fewer aisles uses more space in your warehouse. Each lane enters and exits one way. Drive-in racking is constructed with side rails as opposed to a typical racking system with cross beams. The pallets sit on the rails and are loaded with a LIFO (last-in-first-out) inventory system.

How Drive-In Racking Works

Drive-in racking uses continuous rails mounted along the sides of each storage lane instead of horizontal beams between every pallet position. Forklifts drive directly into the lane, placing pallets on the rails from front to back. Because there is only one point of entry per lane (or two, in drive-through configurations), the system relies on a last-in, first-out (LIFO) rotation, meaning the first pallet loaded is typically the last one retrieved.

This lane-based design is what allows drive-in racking to achieve such high storage density. Depending on the depth of your building and your product’s shelf-life requirements, lanes can be configured anywhere from a few pallets deep to well beyond the common 6 to 8 pallet range.

Types of Drive-In Racking

Single Entry: forklift access on one side only. This is known as standard drive-in racking.

Double Entry: forklift access on both sides of racking. Double entry was designed to allow access to pallets from the back side of the rack system as well as the front. A large beam in the center of the structure holds all of the racks together. This style is called drive-through racking.

Advantages of Drive-In Racking

• Great for temperature controlled storage
• High density storage
• Saves time stocking and picking
• LIFO storage system
• Maximize square footage in your warehouse
• Unlimited storage depth
• Cost efficient

Disadvantages of Drive-In Racking

• Last-In-First-Out inventory system limits what kind of products can be stored in a drive in rack
• More common for forklift damage to racks with this type of racking because of the high amount of forklift traffic in and out of the system
• Easier to lose product if it’s not well-managed
• Poor accessibility to pallets that aren’t at the front

If you are interested in this dense storage system, contact one of our rack experts today to speak about installing drive-in racking in your warehouse or distribution center today.

Safety Considerations for Drive-In Racking

Because drive-in racking involves forklifts entering enclosed lanes on a regular basis, rack protection and inspection are especially important. Column protectors, guide rails, and rub rails help reduce the frequency of forklift-to-rack collisions, and warehouses should follow OSHA 1910.176 guidance on storage and housekeeping along with regular rack inspections consistent with RMI recommendations to catch damaged rails or beams before they become a safety hazard.

Is Drive-In Racking Right for Your Warehouse?

Drive-in racking tends to work best for operations with a limited number of SKUs, high per-SKU pallet counts, and lower turnover requirements, such as seasonal goods, bulk food and beverage storage, or cold storage facilities where aisle space is expensive to condition. If your inventory profile includes many different SKUs with frequent picking needs, a selective racking or pallet flow system may be a better fit than drive-in racking’s LIFO limitations.

Frequently Asked Questions About Drive-In Racking

What is the difference between drive-in and drive-through racking?

Drive-in racking (single entry) allows forklift access from one side of the lane only, while drive-through racking (double entry) allows access from both sides. Drive-through systems are useful when you need to load from one end and unload from the other, supporting first-in, first-out flow for certain applications.

How deep can a drive-in racking lane be?

Most drive-in racking lanes are designed 6 to 8 pallets deep, though the structural design can accommodate greater depths depending on building dimensions and load requirements. Deeper lanes increase storage density but also increase the LIFO rotation delay for pallets loaded early in the cycle.

What products are best suited for drive-in racking?

Drive-in racking works best for large quantities of the same SKU with low to moderate turnover, such as seasonal inventory, bulk raw materials, or non-perishable goods. Because of its LIFO rotation, it is not well suited for products with strict shelf-life or first-in, first-out requirements.

How much does drive-in racking cost compared to selective racking?

Drive-in racking generally costs more per pallet position upfront than selective racking due to its heavier rail and structural components, but it often costs less per pallet stored overall because of its much higher storage density and reduced aisle requirements. The right choice depends on your throughput needs versus your storage density goals.

Do I need special forklift training to use drive-in racking?

Standard forklift operator certification is required, but many warehouses also provide additional training specific to navigating narrow drive-in lanes safely, since the tight clearances increase the risk of rack contact compared to open-aisle racking systems.

Questions? Call 800-404-RACK (7225)

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