Cold store and chilled warehouse racking.

Why cold store racking is different

Racking installed in cold store and chilled environments is exposed to conditions that standard warehouse racking is not designed for. In frozen stores operating at -18°C to -25°C, steel becomes more brittle and must be specified to retain adequate ductility and impact resistance at low temperatures. The repeated thermal cycling as goods are loaded at ambient or chilled temperatures and the store temperature recovers creates expansion and contraction stresses in the racking structure. Condensation forms on racking surfaces during warm periods — particularly during defrost cycles in blast freezers — and must be managed to prevent corrosion. Galvanised racking provides significantly better corrosion resistance than powder-coated racking in these environments and is the standard specification for cold store applications.

Racking systems for cold store environments

Drive-in pallet racking is widely used in frozen food cold stores where the priority is maximising pallet density to reduce the refrigerated volume required. Each refrigerated cubic metre is expensive to build and operate, so high-density storage systems are strongly preferred. Push-back racking provides a higher-density alternative to selective racking with LIFO rotation for frozen food operations with a range of product lines. Selective adjustable pallet racking is used in chilled warehouses and cold stores where direct access to a wide SKU range is required. Very narrow aisle (VNA) racking maximises pallet locations in large cold stores where the investment in specialist narrow aisle trucks and guidance systems is justified by the storage density achieved. All Rackstor UK cold store installations use hot-dip galvanised components throughout.

• Frozen food cold stores at -18°C to -25°C
• Chilled food warehouses at 0°C to 5°C
• Blast freezer and pull-down facilities
• Pharmaceutical cold chain at 2°C to 8°C
• Ice cream and dairy cold storage
• Temperature-controlled 3PL operations

Installation in cold store environments

Installing racking in an operational cold store requires careful planning to minimise temperature breaks, manage condensation during installation, and protect floor fixings during the curing period. Rackstor UK coordinates cold store installations to minimise disruption to the temperature-controlled environment, with installation teams briefed on cold store working procedures and appropriate PPE. Floor fixing adhesives and expanding anchors are specified for low-temperature applications. All cold store racking is load-tested after installation and a full set of system documentation is provided.