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

Our Westmont warehouse is about 35 minutes from Joliet, 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 Joliet installations run one to four weeks depending on size.

Does drive-in rack work in Joliet buildings near CenterPoint Intermodal Center?

Usually, yes. In Joliet, big-box distribution centers near the intermodal yards run 36 to 40 feet clear and turn freight around the clock. 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 Joliet operations get the most out of drive-in rack?

We see it pay off most for third-party logistics and intermodal distribution operations in Joliet, especially where the same SKU stored in five different places 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

Joliet, Illinois

Drive-In Rack in Joliet, IL

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

A lot of the calls we get from Joliet start the same way: container loads arriving from the intermodal yards faster than a big-box building near I-80 can put them away. Underneath that is usually the same SKU stored in five different places, and it gets worse every month the layout stays the same.

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 work out the storage math for your Joliet footprint first, then hand you a CAD layout and itemized quote before a single beam ships. Call (312) 815-2445 to get started.

(312) 815-2445

Why Joliet Warehouses Work With Us

We have worked Joliet buildings from the CenterPoint Intermodal Center to the I-80 and I-55 interchange for years, and they are rarely alike. Around here, big-box distribution centers near the intermodal yards run 36 to 40 feet clear and turn freight around the clock. A drive-in rack layout copied from another building almost always wastes pallet positions.

Since 1997 we have supplied third-party logistics, intermodal distribution, and 3PL operations in and around Joliet. That history means lane dimensions drawn around your specific lift truck rarely surprises us mid-project, and the first drive-in rack layout is usually close to the final one.

Our Westmont warehouse is about 35 minutes from Joliet by way of I-80, I-55, and Route 53, 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 CenterPoint Intermodal Center, the I-80 and I-55 interchange, the Laraway Road distribution parks, the Route 53 industrial strip.

Third-party logistics

Intermodal distribution

Retail distribution

Food & beverage

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 Joliet 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.

Standard components ship from stock, often inside 48 hours, and delivery is timed to your Joliet receiving hours. Our own crews anchor, plumb, and level every frame, tag capacities, and phase the work by zone so shipping keeps moving. Afterward you keep one local number for parts, added levels, reconfigurations, or a future relocation.

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 Joliet 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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