Drive through racks are very similar to drive in racks. In fact, they’re so similar that the terms are often used interchangeably. In both cases, the racks are designed to allow a forklift to enter the rack and retrieve pallets. However, drive in racks have access only from one direction, while drive through racks can be accessed from the front and the back.

This major difference is important in how material is stored. Drive through racks are more convenient in managing material that needs to follow FIFO, or “first in first out”, methodology. One material handler can load incoming material from one end of the rack, while outgoing material is offloaded from the other end of the rack, ensuring that the oldest stock is used up first.

From a density stand-point, drive through racks hold the same cubic amount of material as a drive in rack, but an aisle is required on both ends, so more overall floor space is required to manage the same amount of material. A drive in rack can be installed against a wall and to take advantage of a dead area in the factory or warehouse, but generally this is considered poor design, or making the best of a bad layout.

Drive through racks are typically secured with cross members across the top of the rack, since load beams would interfere with the forklift travel in and out. Naturally, the structure is mounted to the floor to provide strength and support to the whole system. The structure is the same as a drive in rack, with the same types of uprights and rails. No additional modifications are required, apart from creating the entry point on the back of the rack.

What should be stored in drive through racks?

Material that doesn’t turn over too frequently, but where the order of delivery is important is ideal for storage in drive through racks. Since it can be cumbersome to manoeuvre a forklift in and out of a drive through rack, the material shouldn’t need to be moved too often. For faster moving product, consider using pallet flow racks.

FIFO is one reason to use drive through racks, since it’s much easier to manage the movement of material. In some cases, the customer may want product delivered in a certain sequence, and a drive in rack preserves this order.

Drive through racks also promote more efficient warehouse design. By keeping incoming material separated from outgoing, material flow is more logical. There’s less cross over of forklift traffic, leading to defined material routes and more standard work flow.

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