What are Pallet Rack Anchors and What Do They Do?

21 Jan What are Pallet Rack Anchors and What Do They Do?

What are pallet rack anchors?

They are, pretty much, what they sound like. Pallet rack anchors are anchors for your pallet rack. They help keep your pallet rack in an upright and safe position. A good thing for you, your workers, and your customers, if they visit your location and see your pallet racks. They provide an extra measure against damage obtained from falls and collapses caused by any sort of small bump or jostling.

I’ve seen videos or gifs where pallet racks are falling over on their employees. Don’t they have anchors in them? Why are they falling over?

We do not know if those pallet racks were anchored, although, it is a reasonable assumption to believe that they were no evidence of that exists either way. Still, most of those videos are of people running into the pallet racks with a forklift which is a heavy-duty machine. The machine, no matter how slow they look like they were driving, is very powerful. We cannot assume that the bumps they took were light. The zones where they hit the rack, also are places, in most videos, that would cause the rack to crumple from the impact. The answer to this problem would be the use of a pallet protector and anchoring. You would still want the anchoring as taking a hit without the anchor could destabilize the entire pallet rack and, possibly, cause it to fall.

Do I really need the anchor?

The quick answer to this question is yes. You need all your pallet rack to have an anchor otherwise the pallet will become unstable from any bump. You would have to be in a state of constant worry that a bump could take it down or even the smallest earthquake would cause the whole system to fall.

What happens if I don’t have them?

You may have a rack that falls and hurt someone. You may lose a lot of products in a particular fall. We also have to consider the fact that the government has their own codes that you must adhere to in order to keep operating. A seismic engineer may tell you that specific anchors have to be used in your location. Otherwise, the local government may have you remove and disassemble your racks which could effectively stop your business from making money since you will not be able to store your items effectively. It is especially true if you have started storing your product vertically. The loss of the ability to store upwards may make your inventory too much for your warehouse to handle, at least, as far as space is concerned.

Is this anchoring job something I can do by myself?

Yes. However, we do not recommend it. Your local city or county inspector will come to inspect your rack and your work. If your torque on your anchor bolts are too tight or loose then you will fail your inspection. It is, usually, better to have someone like our company do it for you so you can avoid this headache. If you do not have experience in doing this to the city or county’s standards then you should have someone who has done it do the work for you. You can read more about the process in the paragraphs on this page if you are so inclined.

Looking to get pallet rack anchors? Click here. Remember your seismic engineer will tell you what type of anchors you need. Please check with them first before ordering.