What are the Different Uses for Rack Shelving?

Rack shelving is any shelving unit that is made from metal legs and either metal, wood, or composite shelves. The uses for rack shelving range from industrial and commercial purposes to home use. These heavy-duty units can support a significant amount of weight, though they can be heavy and unwieldy to move. It is therefore best to leave them in a set position rather than moving them at any point, though if movement is necessary, the shelving will often need to be emptied of its contents. Warehouses often use rack shelving to hold products before those products are shipped or otherwise transported for sale.

Homeowners also often use rack shelving in garages and basements for storage. In workspaces, such as home workshops or garage areas, the rack shelving is useful for storage of heavy tools such as power tools, as well as raw materials or other heavy objects. Basement storage can be made more efficient by using these heavy-duty shelves for holding boxes and other unused items. The shelves are often adjustable on the rack shelving legs, meaning the distance between one shelf and another can be adjusted up and down to allow for more room for larger objects or less room for smaller objects.

Larger industrial or commercial businesses often use rack shelving for pallet storage. Items on a wooden pallet can be stored on the shelves, and the products can be moved around easily or removed from the shelf by using a forklift that can lift the pallets. Such shelving units are far more heavy-duty than consumer models and are often quite tall; some warehouses feature shelving from floor to ceiling, and the shelving units can hold a significant amount of weight and endure dents, bumps, and other impacts.

Smaller shelving units can be used for file storage, or even book storage in places like libraries or offices. Lawyers and doctors often have significant amounts of files in their offices, and certain types of rack shelves can be used for storing files in boxes or loose files tightly packed into a shelf. Libraries will sometimes use rack shelves to store books, and the shelves themselves can be quite tall, with many libraries equipped with rolling ladders that help a person reach the higher shelves. Rack shelving is good for such purposes because books tend to be quite heavy when stored together on a shelf, so the heavy-duty units are a safe and easy way to support the weight.