How quickly can drive-in rack be delivered and installed in Des Plaines?

Our Westmont warehouse is about 30 minutes from Des Plaines, so standard components often arrive within 48 hours of an approved order. Engineered drive-in rack parts can take longer, and we put the real lead time in writing with your quote. Most Des Plaines installations run one to four weeks depending on size.

Does drive-in rack work in Des Plaines buildings near O'Hare cargo area?

Usually, yes. In Des Plaines, older industrial buildings near O'Hare with limited height, plus air-cargo space where every square foot is expensive. We plan the drive-in rack around your column grid, clear height, and dock layout so pallet positions land where the building allows, and we show you the position count before you order.

Which Des Plaines operations get the most out of drive-in rack?

We see it pay off most for air cargo & freight forwarding and manufacturing operations in Des Plaines, especially where too many aisles for the number of SKUs you actually carry is the daily headache. During a free warehouse consultation we compare drive-in rack with other options for your SKUs so you can see whether it is the right fit.

How many more positions will drive-in add in our building?

Trading aisles for lanes typically shrinks the footprint for the same pallet count by roughly a third, sometimes more in the taller 32 to 40 ft clear buildings going up in Will County. We give you the side-by-side position counts in the layout rather than a rule of thumb.

Will our current forklifts fit inside the lanes?

Lane width, rail height, and mast clearance get dimensioned to your specific truck - mast height, overall width, and turning clearance - before anything is drawn. If your trucks won't work safely in a lane, we tell you at the layout stage.

Drive-in or drive-through - which do we need?

Drive-in is open at one end and runs LIFO, which gives the most positions. Drive-through opens both ends for FIFO at the cost of some positions and a second access aisle. Your rotation requirements decide it.

Can drive-in rack be reconfigured if our SKU mix changes?

Rail elevations can be reset for a different pallet height, and lanes shortened or added. If SKU count grows enough that lanes stop filling, sections can be converted back toward selective racking.

Drive-In Rack system inside a Illinois warehouse

Des Plaines, Illinois

Drive-In Rack in Des Plaines, IL

Name: Chicago Pallet Racks - Des Plaines
Address: 36 N. Cass Ave., Westmont, IL, 60559, US
Telephone: (312) 815-2445
Price range: $$

Air freight landing at O'Hare and sitting on the floor of an expensive building near the airport because there is nowhere to put it is one of the most common problems we see in Des Plaines right now. Look closer and the real issue tends to be too many aisles for the number of SKUs you actually carry.

Drive-in rack lets the forklift drive into the lane and store pallets on rails several deep, so large quantities of a few SKUs fit in a fraction of the floor. We size the drive-in rack to your loads, your forklifts, and the clear height you already lease, then send a CAD layout with pallet positions counted and an itemized quote. Call (312) 815-2445 and tell us what you store in Des Plaines.

(312) 815-2445

Why Des Plaines Warehouses Work With Us

Des Plaines is a market where older industrial buildings near O'Hare with limited height, plus air-cargo space where every square foot is expensive. Whether your building sits near the Mannheim Road corridor or closer to O'Hare International Airport, the column grid and usable height decide the drive-in rack design, not a catalog drawing.

Our team has quoted and installed racking for air cargo & freight forwarding and manufacturing work in Des Plaines for decades. With drive-in rack, the deciding factor is normally lane dimensions drawn around your specific lift truck, and we put the numbers for that in front of you up front.

Our Westmont warehouse is about 30 minutes from Des Plaines by way of I-90, I-294, and Mannheim Road, so deliveries are short, parts are close, and our own crews do the installation. One contact handles the layout, quote, schedule, and service afterward.

Free warehouse consultation

CAD layout with position counts

Installation by our own crews

Drive-in pallet rack lanes fitted with continuous rails

Drive-in warehouse racking loaded with bulk pallets

Operations We Rack Around Here

Nearby areas we work in regularly include the O'Hare cargo area, the Oakton Street industrial strip, the Mannheim Road corridor, the Touhy Avenue business parks.

Air cargo & freight forwarding

Manufacturing

Distribution

Aviation parts

How Drive-In Rack Works

No aisles. The forklift enters the structure, and the floor holds more pallets per square foot than any other system.

Continuous rails, not beams

Pallets rest on rails carried by upright frames rather than individual beam levels, so a lane accepts pallet after pallet at the same elevation.

The truck enters the lane

The driver travels inside the bay to place or retrieve each load. Lane width, rail height, and mast clearance get dimensioned to that specific truck, not a generic one.

One open end or two

One open end gives LIFO and the highest density available. Two open ends give FIFO with slightly fewer positions, since each lane now needs clearance from both sides.

Guarding built into the design

Guide rails, column guards, and rail-end protection are part of the spec from the start, because a lane that takes daily contact from forklifts is a lane that will eventually need repair.

What a Drive-In Rack Project Includes

A Des Plaines drive-in rack project starts with a phone call or a few photos, not a sales pitch. We go through load size and weight, forklift type and lift height, usable clear height in the storage area, column spacing, and how fast product turns. That free warehouse needs analysis usually takes about fifteen minutes.

You get a drive-in rack drawing for your building with every position counted, every level rated, and an itemized price by frame, beam, and accessory. Because this system turns on aisles traded for lanes to push positions per square foot, we usually include an alternative layout on the same plan so you can compare storage against access.

Common drive-in rack parts move from our Westmont stock within days. Our crews install to the approved drawing, anchor every frame, and work around your shifts so manufacturing production does not stop. Your layout stays on file, so adding a bay next year or replacing a damaged upright starts from where the system already is.

High volume of a small number of SKUs

Seasonal or buffer inventory held in bulk

Cold storage and freezer rooms where cube matters most

Product too fragile to floor-stack more than two high

Buildings where floor space, not height, is the binding constraint

Call (312) 815-2445

Recent Installations

Racking projects completed for warehouses across Chicago and the surrounding suburbs.

Carton flow rack installation in a warehouse

Drive-in pallet rack installation in a high-bay warehouse

Pallet rack installation reaching the ceiling of a distribution center

Selective pallet rack aisle with wire decking

Warehouse pallet racking aisles with a forklift

Rows of pallet racking in a distribution facility

Warehouse pallet rack system spanning a large storage area

Pallet racking rows under warehouse skylights

Cantilever rack arms mounted along a warehouse wall

Push back pallet rack carts on inclined rails

View More Projects

Get a Drive-In Rack Quote for Your Des Plaines Warehouse

Send the basics and we will follow up with a layout and pricing. Prefer to talk it through? Call (312) 815-2445.

Chicago Pallet Racks

36 N. Cass Ave.

Unit #5170

Westmont, IL 60559

(312) 815-2445

Monday - Friday: 8:00 AM - 6:00 PM

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