Pushback Pallet Rack in Kansas City

For Kansas City operations storing several pallets per SKU, pushback rack uses nested carts on inclined rails loaded from the aisle. Each new pallet pushes the one ahead of it back, and when you pull the front load, the next rolls forward. You get two to six pallets deep per lane with one aisle doing the work of several.

When Pushback Rack Makes Sense in Kansas City

Pushback fits SKUs that run several pallets at a time. Food & beverage distributors, grocery suppliers and consumer goods companies in the metro often hold a dozen or more pallets of the same item, and selective rack wastes aisle space storing them one deep.

It is last-in, first-out. That works for canned goods, bottled drinks, paper products and household goods where the newest pallet can ship first. Date-coded product that must rotate is a better fit for pallet flow rack.

Pushback Rack: Fewer Aisles, More Positions

Removing aisles is where the density comes from. A four-deep pushback bay replaces several rows of single-deep rack and the aisles between them.

In older 18 to 24 ft buildings in Raytown, Independence or the Fairfax Industrial District, that floor savings often matters more than height. Fewer aisles can be the difference between staying put and leasing more space.

In tall LPKC and CenterPoint buildings, pushback stacks several levels high, turning a compact footprint into a large reserve block.

Staging Rail and Intermodal Loads

Kansas City is one of the largest rail hubs in the country. BNSF's facility at Edgerton, CPKC rail at CenterPoint toward Mexico, and Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern service bring in full containers of the same product.

When a container arrives with 20 pallets of one SKU, pushback lanes near the dock can absorb it quickly. Forklift drivers fill a lane from the aisle face and move on, without hunting for empty selective openings across the building.

3PLs in the KCI Intermodal BusinessCentre and the Lenexa Logistics Centre use this approach to stage loads for outbound orders.

Choosing Pushback Rack Lane Depth

Deeper is not always better. A six-deep lane holds more, but if a SKU only runs four pallets, two positions sit empty much of the time.

Pallets and Climate

Carts ride best on sound pallets. Broken boards or mixed pallet sizes can hang up a lane, so we ask what pallets you actually receive before sizing rails.

Most metro warehouses are unconditioned, with hot, humid summers and cold winters. Pushback carts work through both. In cold storage, we specify components rated for freezer temperatures. Underground space in SubTropolis or Lenexa holds 65 to 72 degrees, but the 16 ft ceiling limits pushback to a couple of levels.

How Pushback Fits Your Layout

Few buildings run pushback alone. Slower SKUs go in selective pallet racking, the densest frozen product goes in drive-in rack, and each-pick items move to carton flow rack.

Warehouse Equipment & Supplies Co. has supplied and installed warehouse equipment since 1997, and one project with us can cover racking, offices, mezzanines, shelving and partitions.

Spring storm season can delay deliveries, so we build flexibility into schedules. Our team handles the permit side for you. Learn more on our national pushback rack page or the Kansas City overview.

What We Need to Quote Pushback

Send a SKU list with typical pallet counts, your pallet sizes and weights, forklift model and lift height, and the building's clear height. A rough dock plan helps too.

With that, we can show how many lanes each item needs and how much floor the system frees up compared with your current layout.