Rack System — Statewide Delaware
Pushback Rack in Delaware
High-density LIFO pallet rack — 2 to 6 pallets deep per lane, gravity-fed nested carts, standard counterbalance forklift compatible.
ENGINEERED — Pushback Rack
Rack System — Statewide Delaware
High-density LIFO pallet rack — 2 to 6 pallets deep per lane, gravity-fed nested carts, standard counterbalance forklift compatible.
Pushback Rack supplied and installed across Delaware. Free, no-obligation quotes.
// Overview
Pushback rack is a high-density cart-based storage system that stores 2 to 6 pallets deep in each lane on gently inclined rails. When you load a pallet, the previous pallet is pushed back on nested carts; when you pick, gravity rolls the next pallet forward into pick position automatically. The result is roughly 1.8 to 2 times the pallet positions of selective racking in the same footprint — without the forklift-entry damage risk of drive-in rack, and without investing in specialized trucks. Pushback is the default high-density choice for Delaware cold storage, beverage distribution, and CPG operations where SKU homogeneity allows lane-level grouping and LIFO rotation is acceptable. Delaware Pallet Racking designs, supplies, and installs pushback systems engineered to the Delaware State Building Code (IBC-based) and RMI ANSI MH16.1-2023, with full seal-stamped drawings and permit support for every install throughout Delaware.
// What you get
// Spec sheet
Each lane is built from steel rails pitched at 3 to 6 percent, with nested wheeled carts stacked one inside the next — one cart per pallet position beyond the front.
Forklift sets a pallet on the top cart. Adding the next pallet pushes the prior pallet back; carts nest smoothly beneath each successive load.
Pull the front pallet and the next cart rolls forward on its own into pick position. No power, no activation — just the incline.
// Fit check
// Where we install it
Delaware cold chain operators use pushback to compress footprint while keeping forklifts in wider conditioned aisles — which matters because every cubic foot of conditioned air lost to forklift traffic is reload energy on the rack.
Performance Food Group and regional beverage distributors run homogeneous SKU pallet lots — a perfect fit for pushback lane grouping and LIFO rotation on fast-moving products.
Food distributors and grocery DCs in the Delaware corridor use pushback for pre-shipment staging and bulk SKU storage where same-SKU lane depth is the planning unit.
Buffer storage for JIT feeds to Delaware and mid-Atlantic manufacturers in the Wilmington pharma corridor — pushback provides density for repetitive SKUs without risking rack hits from the line-side reach trucks.
Corrugated, stretch film, and label stock run in high-volume homogeneous SKUs. Pushback cuts the pallet-position footprint without forcing the plant into a specialty truck fleet.
// Straight answers
Standard configurations run 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 pallets deep per lane. Deeper lanes (7+) can be engineered but are uncommon because cart-nesting tolerance and pallet-quality variation create jam risk beyond 6 deep. Most Delaware installations land at 3 or 4 deep as the balance point between density and operational reliability.
Typical pushback systems are rated to 3,000 lbs per pallet position, with structural systems rated to 4,000 lbs. Cold-storage beverage and food-grade CPG loads sit comfortably inside standard ratings. Heavier loads — metal coils, automotive castings, some construction product — usually require structural systems or an alternative rack type entirely.
You can, but each lane rotates LIFO — the last pallet loaded is the first one picked. If two SKUs share a lane, the rearmost SKU is inaccessible until the lanes in front of it are cleared. For FIFO-critical inventory (food with tight code dates, dated pharmaceutical lots), pallet flow rack is the better choice.
No. Pushback is designed to work with standard counterbalance forklifts because the forklift never enters the rack. This is a major advantage over drive-in systems, which typically need reach or narrow-aisle trucks. You load and pick from the same aisle with whatever fleet you already operate.
Both are LIFO and both increase density over selective, but drive-in trades more density (2–10 pallets deep) for higher rack-damage exposure because forklifts enter the rack structure. Drive-in pallets also sit on side rails rather than beams. Pushback is typically the right call when your fleet is not already running reach trucks and you want to minimize ongoing rack repair spend.
Pushback rack typically runs $160–$180 per pallet position in materials — roughly two to three times selective — plus installation that runs higher than selective because of the cart-and-rail assemblies. The offset: 2–6 pallets deep per lane means far more storage per square foot. Delaware Pallet Racking quotes pushback fixed-price after a free lane-count and SKU review.
Pushback costs roughly 2× per pallet position versus selective, but delivers 1.8 to 2.0× the positions in the same footprint. The ROI math usually sits outside the rack itself: avoided building expansion, reduced aisle count, and lower energy costs in cold-storage environments. Most Delaware pushback projects pencil out in 18 to 36 months when building expansion would otherwise be on the table.
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