Drive In Pallet Racking
The densest static pallet storage available - forklifts drive into the rack, pallets store up to 10 deep, and up to 85% of your floor becomes storage. Designed, supplied and installed across the South West.
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Drive in pallet racking: maximum density storage
Drive in pallet racking removes the aisles altogether. Forklifts drive directly into the racking structure, placing pallets on continuous support rails several positions deep - so up to 85% of your floor area becomes storage, roughly double what standard wide aisle racking achieves.
It's the system of choice for bulk storage of consistent product: drinks, packaging, seasonal stock, raw materials and chilled or frozen goods, where cubic efficiency matters more than picking individual pallets. Because the building is doing less work per pallet stored, drive in racking is also one of the most effective ways to avoid the cost of additional warehouse space altogether.
We design, supply and install drive in racking blocks across the South West - new and used - complete with guide rails, upright protection and load signage.
How drive in racking works
Pallets sit on horizontal rails that run from front to back of each lane, supported by the upright frames. The forklift enters the lane at ground level, lifts the pallet onto the chosen rail level and reverses out. Lanes are typically 2-10 pallets deep and several beams high, built as solid blocks against a wall or back-to-back.
LIFO as standard, FIFO if you need it
Standard drive in pallet racking is last-in, first-out (LIFO): the last pallet stored in a lane is the first one retrieved. Where stock rotation matters, the drive-through variant opens both ends of the block - loading from one side, picking from the other - giving first-in, first-out flow for date-sensitive goods.
What it asks of your operation
Drive-in racking rewards discipline: consistent pallet sizes and quality, one SKU per lane, and drivers trained for the operating method. Guide rails, upright protection and clear lane information should be considered in the design because trucks operate inside the rack structure.
What drive in racking does for you
Up to 85% floor utilisation
Eliminating aisles roughly doubles the pallets stored per square metre versus wide aisle racking - unbeatable for bulk stock.
Ideal for cold stores
Refrigerated space is the most expensive floor you own. Drive in racking packs the most product into every chilled cubic metre.
Standard forklifts
Unlike VNA systems, drive in blocks are worked with ordinary counterbalance and reach trucks - no specialist fleet needed.
FIFO option available
Drive-through configuration serves date-coded stock with strict rotation requirements.
New and used options
Quality used drive in racking can cut the cost per position significantly - ask us to quote both.
Built-in protection
Guide rails and heavy duty upright guards are specified with every block, because trucks and racking share the same space.
What makes a drive-in scheme work
Drive-in racking has no beams - pallets sit on continuous rails and the truck drives into the lane to load and retrieve. That puts more responsibility on the pallets themselves. Good-condition four-way entry pallets, consistently sized and in decent repair, run smoothly; tired or mixed pallets snag on rails and slow every movement down. If your pallet pool is rough, tell us early - it changes the rail spec and sometimes the recommendation itself. A short pallet audit before design costs nothing and has saved more than one client from buying the wrong system.
Lanes operate last in, first out, so drive-in suits businesses storing large volumes of relatively few product lines - drinks, packaging, seasonal stock and cold store product where every cubic metre of chilled space is expensive. As a rule of thumb a drive-in block stores two to three times the pallets of standard racking in the same footprint. We design lane depths around your actual batch sizes so you are not paying to heat, light or chill positions that sit empty, and second-hand drive-in components - where we can match profiles - bring the cost down further still.
Drive In Racking FAQs
When you store significant volumes of a limited number of product lines and can live with last-in, first-out retrieval. Bulk packaging, drinks, seasonal goods and frozen product are classic fits. If you pick many different SKUs daily, push back or narrow aisle racking will serve you better.
Lanes of 2-10 pallets deep are typical. The practical limit is set by stock rotation - the deeper the lane, the more pallets of one SKU you need to keep it efficient - and by how far drivers can comfortably and safely travel inside the rack.
Structurally they're near-identical. Drive in racking is loaded and unloaded from the same end, giving LIFO rotation. Drive through racking is open at both ends so pallets flow in one side and out the other - FIFO - at the cost of an access aisle on each face of the block.
It sees more truck contact than aisle-based systems, which is why every scheme we design includes floor-fixed guide rails and upright protection from day one, and why driver familiarisation matters. Specified and used properly, drive in blocks give decades of service - and we supply matching components when repairs are needed.
Compare your options
Deep-lane density isn't the only answer. See how the alternatives stack up.