Poorly designed racking is a safety hazard that shouldn’t be overlooked.

What exactly makes a Ford F-250 cost more than an F-150? From the outside, they look pretty much the same, right? It’s not until you lift the hood and check the undercarriage that you notice what makes the F-250 capable of handling higher payloads. That’s what makes it worth more of your hard-earned cash.

The same idea applies to structural storage racking. When comparing different systems at face value, you see I-beam construction, heavy-duty bolts, and structural bracing. It’s easy to assume they can handle the same weight—especially if the advertised steel sizes and weight capacities are the same.

The truth, however, is that just like pickup trucks, you need to do more than kick the tires to ensure you’re getting a racking system engineered to safely handle your required loads over years of use. The racking you select should contain five critical design elements: 50-KSI I-beams, A325 bolts, a 100 percent load utilization, fully welded arms, and full load-bearing cradles and shelves (where applicable).

https://www.thefabricator.com/article/materialshandling/5-design-elements-for-safe-heavy-duty-racking