Warehouse Heavy Duty High-Density Push Back And Drive-In Pallet Racking System

In warehouses, high space utilization is always the pursuing goal for cost-saving and profit-increasing. Selective pallet racks possess excellent selectivity and accessibility but may not satisfy many warehouse owners' calling for condensed rack arrangement.

When choosing between VNA racking, push-back racking, and drive-in racking, the latter two solutions may confuse customers since they have a lot in common. To make a wise choice, learning more knowledge of these two racks will help a lot.

Comparison between pushback and drive-in racks

Similarities of push-back rack and drive-in rack


• Obviously, both push-back rack and drive-in rack cut redundant aisles providing more compact pallet position layouts.


• Push-back rack and drive-in rack share similar space utilization rates.


• In these two racking systems, consecutive upright frames are connected by top beams forming uninterrupted storage bays.


• The material handling in both systems follows Last-in/First-out principle.





Differences between push-back and drive-in racks

• Drive-in racks use support rails instead of horizontal beams for pallet loads holding; while in push back system, pallet loads are stored on carts with wheels.

• Forklifts in the drive-in system have to drive into the rack's structure for product storing and picking; while push-back forklifts only work at the end of the rack.

• Push-back racks take advantage of gravity force by designing inclined rails with a series of nested carts where automatic product picking can be reached; while in drive-in racking, forklifts will should all the responsibilities.

• In drive in the system, products can store 8 to 10 pallet depths; while in push-back racking, pallet load depth is usually less than 6 pallets.

• Push-back racking is more efficient and labor-saving compared to drive-in racks since gravity-fed carts are involved.

• Having forklifts never entering the design of the rack, push back system improves the warehouse safety greatly; while drive-in the system needs more protection accessories to the racks due to the strong possibility of crashing.

• In pushback system offers better selectivity since each pallet load can be picked separately; while drive-in pallet racks are more suitable to large quantity products with limited SKUs.

• Since push back system is engineered with extra carts, the cost of it is more expensive than drive-in racks.

If you try to pick between the drive-in rack and push-back rack systems, all the factors mentioned above should be carefully considered. If you still have doubts and don't know what to do, contacting Ironstone professional engineers is always a wise choice.