FreeSupply Chain · Warehousing

Pallet stacking and rack load check

Checks a floor stack and a rack bay against the bottom pallet's top-load rating, beam and frame capacities and clear height.

Free for the warehouse and forklift crew role. No account needed.

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Your numbers

Weight per pallet (lb)Product plus pallet.Pallet height (in)Floor to top of load, including the pallet.Floor stack height (pallets)Pallets stacked on top of each other on the floor.Bottom pallet top-load rating (lb)What the bottom pallet's cartons can carry, from the packaging spec.Clear height to sprinkler deflector (in)Measured at the stack location.Beam pair capacity (lb per level)From the rack's load plaque, per pair of beams.Pallets per beam levelUsually two 48 × 40 in pallets on 96 in beams.Loaded beam levels in the bayCount levels holding pallets, not the floor position.Upright frame capacity (lb)From the load plaque; depends on beam spacing.

For the floor, rack and forklift8 more, filled with typical values

Floor load rating (lb per sq ft)Uniform load the slab is rated for, from the building drawings or the structural engineer.Forklift rated capacity (lb)From the truck's data plate, at the rated load center.Rated load center (in)On the data plate; 24 in on most counterbalance trucks.Load depth along the forks (in)A 48 × 40 in pallet picked from the 40 in side is 48 in deep; the load center is half of it for an even load.Forklift maximum lift height (in)Maximum fork height on the data plate.Top loaded beam height (in)Floor to the top of the highest beam that holds pallets.Floor positions in the blockFootprints in the floor-stacked block, to total what it holds.Rack bays in the runBays of the same rack and load, to total what the run holds.

Pallet stacking and rack load checkForge by Norventus

How it works

Press Calculate to check the floor stack and the rack bay.

Beams, bent by their load (exaggerated)Uprights, pallets, sprinkler and gaugeGauge needle: share of frame rating; the band starts at 100%Press Calculate and the beams bend to their share of the beam rating, the gauge reads the bay's share of the frame rating, and the floor stack stands at its true height under the sprinkler. Your numbers appear here.

Result

Ready when you are.Enter your numbers and press Calculate.

References

Check the work against these

The highest safe stack and what limits it, floor load against the slab rating, the rack load sign, the sprinkler plane and the forklift's capacity at this load, with sources. Numbers in the result and in the plain-words read point here.

1
29 CFR 1910.176, Handling materials, generalCode
Occupational Safety and Health Administration
Paragraph (b): storage must not create a hazard, and material stored in tiers must be stacked, blocked, interlocked and limited in height so it is stable and secure against sliding or collapse.
2
29 CFR 1910.159, Automatic sprinkler systemsCode
Legal Information Institute (Cornell Law School)
Paragraph (c)(10): the minimum vertical clearance between sprinklers and the material below is 18 inches.
3
Standard interpretation: the 18-inch sprinkler clearance as a horizontal plane (29 Sep 2008)Guide
Occupational Safety and Health Administration
OSHA reads the 18 in clearance as a plane across the whole storage area, not only under each head, so a rack's top load counts too; shelving against a wall is the exception.
4
29 CFR 1910.178, Powered industrial trucksCode
Occupational Safety and Health Administration
Only loads within the truck's rated capacity may be handled (paragraph (o)), and the truck's nameplate must show that capacity; the basis for the forklift check here.
5
Rack Manufacturers Institute (ANSI MH16.1, the specification for industrial steel storage racks)Guide
MHI, Rack Manufacturers Institute
Where the rack design specification and RMI's guidance on load plaques and rack inspection come from; the plaque on your rack, not a rule of thumb, sets beam and frame capacity.

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Warehouse and forklift crew Mechanical engineer

Pallet stacking and rack load check

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