Pallet Racking in Portland – Warehouse Racking Systems

Need Pallet Racking in Portland?

Talk to one of our experienced racking and warehouse storage experts to get all your questions answered.

If you’re looking for pallet racking in Portland, Oregon, you’ve come to the right place! Speedrack West is the premier pallet rack provider in the Portland area. No matter what your warehousing needs are, our racking and warehouse shelving experts can help you create the right system for you to increase efficiency, productivity, and safety.

Speedrack West provides everything you need to ensure you are equipped with the most efficient storage solution for your operation. Our experts will help you select the right equipment and ensure that you stay compliant with the rules and regulations specific to racking in Portland and surrounding areas.

To design your own pallet rack system, visit our pallet rack builder tool.

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Requirements and Regulations Specific to Racking in Portland

Racking and shelving systems are subject to local requirements and regulations. Complying with these regulations make your operation safer, and protect you and your employees. It’s not always easy to know what is required, but we’re here to help! Here are some frequently asked questions and information specific to racking in Portland and the surrounding areas.

What are the High Pile Storage Requirements?

In Portland as of September 2021, any shelving systems over 12ft tall require an independent fire review. When planning for your warehouse racking system, make sure to plan on a little extra time to properly complete this review. Unfortunately, such a review may not be cheap, so check with your jurisdiction to know the cost for your budget.

What are the Seismic Separation Requirements in Portland?

Racking must be set away from walls and building columns. There is a specific math formula based on the height of your racking, which will determine the distance the racking must be away from the walls and building columns.

Are Racking Permits Required in Portland?

Yes, acquiring a pallet racking permit is a requirement for Portland storage racks. In addition, because Portland has so many older buildings, it can be more difficult to acquire permits, with more hoops to jump through. Once you pull a permit for racking, for instance, they may require other parts of the building to be brought up to code before the permit will be provided.

Luckily, Speedrack West has you covered, and we can help you through the pallet rack permit process.

Note: Due to Covid-19, since there is less in-person contact, there have been some changes made to the permit process that may delay the issuing of permits. Expect more variables and increased delays.

Portland Tends to be More Transparent About Project Status

In other jurisdictions, it’s common that you won’t know anything about the progress of a project until the project has been completed. Portland tends to be more transparent about the status of projects, and you can expect to be more informed throughout the process.

About Pallet Racks

There are many different types of warehouse shelving, all with strengths depending on your needs. Here is an overview of the different types of shelving and pallet racking, and what they would be best used for.

Selective Pallet Rack

The name pallet racking refers to how most large scale products are delivered, on pallets. The pallets are then lifted onto the shelving system for storage, or racking. Selective pallet racking is the industrial version of regular, horizontal shelving. These racks are designed to be large enough to put an entire pallet on a shelf, and strong enough to have multiple levels of shelving. As an example, if you go to a store like Home Depot and you look at the shelves then you should know that you are looking at, for the most part, pallet racking.

The most common pallet racking is called “Selective” pallet racking because the open face of the shelving allows you to select whatever product or pallet that is needed. The shelving is designed to have a depth of one pallet, so that there aren’t items behind the front that would be more cumbersome to access. For most warehouses, selective pallet rack will be the most common type of shelving.

Pallet Rack Safety Considerations

Safety is everyone’s top priority, so you’ll likely want to add some extra items to increase the safety of your rack system:

Anchors – Pallet rack that is not anchored to a concrete floor is extremely unsafe. You need four anchors installed per frame. Anchoring pallet rack is an essential part of proper pallet rack installation.

Column Guards – Damaged pallet rack is unsafe, and the most common damage to a frame happens when it is hit by a forklift. Installing column guards on each frame can reduce the likelihood of damage during low speed impacts. Any exposed side of a frame needs protection with a column guard solution such as a RAMguard or a column guard.

Drop Pins – Beam safety drop pins are an easy and inexpensive way to reduce the chance of beams being accidentally disengaged. This common error happens when a forklift operator lifts a pallet too high, causing the pallet to raise the beam above and disconnect it from the frame. This results in the entire beam level failing and pallets falling to the floor. Installing two drop pins per beam prevents this type of accident.

Pallet Racking Protectors | Column Guards | Speedrack West

Designing your Pallet Racking Layout

When laying out your pallet rack system, there are starter bays and add-on bays.

Starter bays consist of two frames plus the beams, and can stand alone. Add-on bays only have one frame plus the beams, and they are designed to connect to an adjacent frame.

Each row must begin with a starter bay, and then use add-on bays to increase the length of the row. There is no limit to the number of add-on bays you can connect together in a row.

When determining the length of your row, you must account for the 3” width of each frame, in addition to your beam length. For example, a row with two bays of 8ft beams would consist of one starter bay and one add-on bay, which would have three uprights. At 3” each, the three uprights would take up 9” of space. Add this to the two 8ft beams, for a total length of 16’ 9”.

Using our custom pallet rack system builder will automatically calculate the correct length of each row of racking. You can also have a copy of your designed layout instantly emailed to you.