Planning Pallet Racking - Load, Aisle Width, Guards?

How do you calculate beam and bay load?

The beam load is the safe capacity of one level between two beams, while the bay load is the sum of all beam loads within one bay between two frames. Both must match your real pallet weights and are verified statically to EN 15512.

An empty Euro pallet weighs around 25 kg and, depending on the goods, can carry 1,000 kg or more. Always design for the heaviest pallet you handle, not the average, and keep a safety margin.

What aisle width does the forklift need?

The required working aisle width comes from the truck type, the pallet depth and a safety clearance. Aisles that are too narrow slow throughput and raise impact risk, while over-wide aisles waste storage area.

• Counterbalance truck: wide aisles of about 3.6 to 4.2 m needed.
• Reach truck: more compact, around 2.7 to 3.1 m working aisle.
• Very narrow aisle (man-up) truck: only 1.6 to 1.8 m, but rail or wire guidance is required.
• Allow a 200 mm safety clearance per side between the load and the rack.

How do you protect the rack from impacts?

The most common cause of rack damage is a forklift impact. EN 15635 requires column protection on every frame bordering an aisle - at least 400 mm high and designed for an impact energy of 400 Nm.

• Column (corner) guards on every aisle-end frame, yellow-black and bolted down.
• Barrier guardrails along the traffic lanes in block storage.
• Do not bolt the guard to the frame; anchor it separately into the floor so the impact does not reach the rack.
• Bar and replace damaged components immediately - never straighten them.

Frequently asked questions