Rack System — Statewide Delaware
Cantilever Rack in Delaware
Long-load storage with no front column — structural and roll-formed arms up to 72 inches, for lumber, pipe, steel, and rolled goods.
ENGINEERED — Cantilever Rack
Rack System — Statewide Delaware
Long-load storage with no front column — structural and roll-formed arms up to 72 inches, for lumber, pipe, steel, and rolled goods.
Cantilever Rack supplied and installed across Delaware. Free, no-obligation quotes.
// Overview
Cantilever rack is the purpose-built storage system for long loads — material that is longer than a standard pallet and often cannot be palletized at all. A cantilever system uses vertical columns with horizontal arms extending outward; because there is no front column obstructing the load face, lumber packs, pipe bundles, steel bar, tubing, rolled goods, and oversize fabricated parts sit cleanly across the arms at any length. Arms can be single-sided (against a wall) or double-sided (freestanding, loaded from both sides for density). Arm capacities scale from 500 lbs per pair on light-duty roll-formed systems up to 4,000+ lbs per pair on structural-steel systems. Cantilever is the default rack for Delaware plumbing wholesalers, lumber and building-supply distributors, steel service centers, HVAC distribution, and furniture and oversize-part operations. Delaware Pallet Racking designs, supplies, and installs cantilever systems engineered to the Delaware State Building Code (IBC-based) and RMI ANSI MH16.1-2023, with base shoes anchored to code for wind and lateral loading in Delaware.
// What you get
// Spec sheet
Structural steel columns (I-beam or heavy tube) are base-shoe-anchored to concrete. Horizontal arms bolt into the column at set elevations, extending forward 24 to 72 inches to cradle the load.
Because there is no front column, the load face is completely open. A 24-foot length of pipe or lumber sits across multiple arms without the interference a selective rack beam would create.
Forklift with long forks or a side-loader positions parallel to the rack and sets the load across the arms. The forklift never enters the rack — all handling is aisle-side.
// Fit check
// Where we install it
Ferguson Enterprises and regional plumbing wholesale operations rely on cantilever for bulk pipe, fittings stock rod, and tubing. CED and Rexel electrical wholesale operations use the same pattern for conduit and long-length electrical stock.
84 Lumber and regional building supply operations run cantilever for dimensional lumber, treated lumber, engineered wood products, and trim packs — with double-sided configurations common in larger yards.
Steel service centers in the Wilmington area store structural shapes, bar stock, flat bar, and tubing on heavy-structural cantilever. These are the heaviest-duty Delaware cantilever installs — 3,000 to 4,000 lbs per arm pair is routine.
Johnstone Supply and regional HVAC distributors run cantilever for sheet-metal ductwork stock, line sets, and long-format refrigerant tubing where palletizing would waste vertical cube.
Regional furniture and home goods operations use cantilever for rolled carpet, bundled headboards, long mattress packaging, and oversize furniture components that exceed pallet dimensions in every direction.
// Straight answers
Roll-formed cantilever uses bent sheet-steel components — lighter, less expensive, typically rated 500 to 1,500 lbs per arm pair. Structural cantilever uses hot-rolled I-beam and heavy tube steel, typically rated 1,500 to 4,000+ lbs per arm pair. Use roll-formed for lumber, light pipe, and packaged goods; use structural for steel bar, heavy pipe bundles, and steel service center inventory.
Yes. Because cantilever systems bolt together and anchor with standard base shoes, they can be disassembled, relocated, and reinstalled — including adjusting arm elevations up or down the column in set increments. This is a major operational advantage when product mix changes.
Delaware is Seismic Design Category A to B (low seismic), but wind load under ASCE 7 for Delaware uses a 110 mph 3-second gust baseline. For cantilever — especially tall or double-sided configurations — the anchor-bolt pattern and base-shoe sizing are typically governed by wind and lateral-load analysis more than seismic. Every Delaware install we do includes sealed engineering addressing this.
Arm length should support the load across at least two arms with appropriate overhang, typically no more than 25 percent of load length extending past the last arm. Standard arms run 24, 36, 48, 60, and 72 inches. For lumber and pipe, 48" is the common default; steel service centers typically run 60" to 72" for long bar stock.
Yes, and it is common. Arm elevations along a single column can be adjusted independently at 3-inch or 6-inch increments (depending on column hole pattern), allowing one bay to hold tall bundles at wide spacing and the next bay to hold closer-spaced short-length stock. This is a core advantage over fixed-beam pallet rack for long-load operations.
Single-sided against a wall is the simpler install and works when you have one aisle and limited floor depth. Double-sided freestanding doubles the linear arm-feet per column footprint but requires two aisles (one on each side). For most mid-to-large Delaware lumber yards, plumbing distributors, and steel service centers, double-sided is the dominant pattern because the density gain pays back quickly.
Capacity is per arm pair and varies enormously by design: light roll-formed cantilever arms carry 500–2,000 lb each, while heavy structural arms for steel service centers run 5,000–20,000+ lb. Total column load and base design matter as much as the arms. Delaware Pallet Racking sizes cantilever from your actual load list and provides stamped capacity documentation.
// More from us
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