New Wire Decks / Wire Decking

• Wire decks serve as horizontal support and prevent pallets or products from falling through your pallet rack shelves.
• Wire decks are easy to install compared to other decking options.
• Upright depth, beam length, and purpose of use determine the right size and type of wire deck — there are several kinds of decking to choose from, but wire mesh decking is the best option for most systems.
• It’s best practice to use a wire deck with the same or higher capacity than your pallet rack beam. If a pallet seats uniformly on the wire deck rather than the beam, the load is still considered secure, since the deck itself is capable of carrying that load.
• Wire decks must be secured to prevent falling through the beam. Since they’re not designed to capture the beam on their own, they need to be secured by screwing, riveting, or other means to prevent the beams from spreading under load.
• Outside waterfall wire decks leap over the beam and stay secured without screwing — making them the easiest option to install and use.
• For hand-pick or case-pick operations, lay-in or drop-in wire decks are widely used, since the operator can easily read or scan a barcode with no leaps outside.
• Lay-in flat flush decking with a closer 1″ x 4″ wire pattern, or wood decking, is widely used in retail display racks, since it helps secure smaller retail items like shampoo bottles.
• Capacity ratings are given for a uniformly distributed static load. Wire decks are not designed to be walked or stood upon, since that creates a point load. The surface is also flexible and irregular — in the event of lateral motion, decks may slide on the supporting beams, tip upward, or disengage from the beam, which can cause a person to trip or fall.

Please refer to our Wire Deck Buying Guide to determine the right size and kind for your system.