Drive In & Drive Through Systems

Drive-in and Drive-through are popular storage rack systems and arrangements that allow the forklift to drive directly into the lane of stacked rows which is often called as bay. Entry at one end or both the ends of the bays can be the only difference in the drive-in and a drive-thru pallet rack systems. Usually, the drive-in rack systems use a common entry and exit whereas the drive-thru system has entry points at one of the ends of the bay. The drive in storage system uses a storage system called as “Last In, First Out” (LIFO) storage method as it has only one entrance. Only one entrance means that the last pallet put into a row is necessarily the first one to be taken out.

On the other hand, the drive-thru storage system as it is having two different entry points generally uses a “First-In, First-Out” (FIFO) storage method. In the FIFO method the pallets are usually loaded in one end and are pushed back to the other end, where they are then at the front of the row on the opposite side. The drive through system is advantageous for material with expiry date or wherever shelf life is a major concern.

With some major advantages on offer with the drive in and drive through systems there are some disadvantages like less access to all stock at any given moment and at times such arrangements are more expensive than the simpler selective pallet rack storage systems.