Finding pallet rack protection gear for the wider-based rack uprights required by seismic codes in the U.S. and on the West Coast can be a headache. But Handle It has got you covered.

Wide-Base Pallet Rack Protection Where You Need It

Every warehouse manager knows the importance of protecting pallet rack uprights from careless forklift operators, but finding post protectors that do the job without eating into valuable bay space can sometimes be a challenge.

Let’s get to the bottom of how post protection should work and look at some effective fixes for wide-based pallet racks.

Protecting Product Means Protecting Posts

With warehouse space at a premium, tightly packed product in any busy warehouse means your pallet rack posts are likely taking a beating from forklifts. Wear and tear is one thing, but when it puts your stock at risk, effective protection is a priority.

A range of bolt-down products is available to shield load-bearing uprights from direct impacts. But because these need to protect all three sides of the post, they eat into the available storage area in each bay and also encroach on aisle space. At best that’s an inconvenience, but in larger facilities, it adds up to a measurable loss of floor-level storage space.

So, what are your options?

On the Lowdown

Standard uprights for most pallet racks are 3 inches square with an inset or rear-facing footplate, which makes them relatively easy to protect. Handle It makes a range of post protectors with a 4.5-inch opening to accommodate both 3-inch and heavier-duty 4-inch uprights with minimal encroachment into both bays and aisle space.

These include our standard P12, P18, and P24 bolt-down protectors that shield uprights up to 12, 18, and 24 inches off the floor, respectively.

Seismic Shift

A bigger challenge is presented by the wider footplates required for pallet rack uprights in seismically active areas of the United States including California, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, and Alaska. These 5×8-inch footplates are designed to provide increased stability during earthquakes but are at least twice as wide as most standard posts.

It’s a small problem with big implications if you want to protect your racks (and products) as well as make the most of your available floor space.

For these uprights , Handle It offers bolt-down post protectors with an 8.5-inch opening, available in three sizes: 12, 18, and 24-inch height protection, respectively.

Raising Our Game

While our heavy-duty P12-8, P18-8, and P24-8 units offer protection for the entire footplate and all three exposed sides of the pallet rack, they do take up more space in each pallet bay. Handle It’s Universal Post Protector provides an effective solution to this problem.

The Universal Post Protector features a reduced-size anchoring plate that sits flush with the front of a 5×8-inch footplate, while a raised upright guard section wraps directly around the 3-inch upright, providing three-sided protection to the upright without adding to the “footprint” of the footplate.

Together, Handle It’s 4.5-inch, 8.5-inch, and Universal Post Protectors provide a comprehensive solution for all the footplate sizes found on common industry pallet rack systems. 

Wider Footplate Options

There is another scenario that is becoming a little more common in the industry where the footplate sticks out wider than the upright in non-seismic areas. Interlake Mecalux is one of the largest pallet rack manufacturers in the world and one of their most common offerings is a 3’’ upright with a bolted footplate. This bolted footplate can vary in size, but the most common is a 5’’ wide footplate. Since it’s only 5’’ the common mistake is that companies buy a standard post protector with a 4.5’’ wide opening and come up just short of having a wide enough opening to cover this 5’’ footplate. 

The correct purchase is a post protector with a wider opening. Handle It also offers post protectors with a 6.5’’ wide opening in the standard heights of 12’’, 18’’, and 24’’. The 6.5’’ wide opening allows for the clearance to wrap around the 5’’ baseplate. 

Level Up Your Post Protection With Handle It

For more than 20 years, Handle It has been building high-quality floor-mounted safety equipment that protects your pallet rack installations, your products, and your staff. 

Today we continue to work to expand our line of products to meet our industries’ changing needs. Our range of re-engineered post protectors designed to safeguard the integrity of wider-base pallet rack uprights is just another example of how we innovate to serve our customers better.

Handle It also offers a wide range of other protective equipment and pallet wrapping equipment designed to make your warehouse operations safer and more efficient.

That’s protection where you need it, keeping your valuable stock safe while reducing wear and tear on your warehouse infrastructure.

No matter how you look at it, we’ve got your uprights covered.

Click below to learn more about our pallet rack base plate protection systems and other products.

Read About Protection Solutions for Seismic Base Plates