Pallet Racking and Warehouse Shelving Delivery Across the UK

Racking is bought in bulk and delivered to buildings that are often empty, unfinished or mid-operation. The delivery is rarely difficult in itself - what makes it work or fail is whether anything on site can get twelve metres of steel off the vehicle.

T&C Logistics delivers pallet racking, shelving and storage systems for racking suppliers, installation contractors, warehouse operators and second-hand dealers - new installations, extensions, reconfigurations and dismantled racking moving between sites. We have run specialist transport since 2020 with over 2,400 deliveries completed and more than 3,000 vetted driver-partners nationwide. Goods-in-transit cover is £50,000 per consignment, rising to £1,000,000 through partners. Quotes from £50 (ex VAT), quoted in full upfront.

What racking and storage equipment does T&C Logistics deliver?

Pallet racking uprights and beams, bracing, pallet support bars and decking, wire mesh decks, longspan and shelving systems, cantilever racking, mezzanine components, safety barriers and column guards, and mobile and static shelving.

Racking is defined by length rather than weight. Uprights are commonly supplied anywhere from 3 m to 12 m, and beams typically 1.8-3.6 m to suit pallet widths. A full bay's worth of steel is not especially heavy, but a bundle of 10 m uprights simply will not fit in a box body, which decides the vehicle before any other consideration.

Vehicle choice runs from a Luton van for short beams to a flatbed, 18-tonne or step frame trailer for long uprights.

How will the load be offloaded on site?

That is the question to settle before booking, and it decides both vehicle and price. A bundle of 10 m uprights cannot be offloaded by hand and cannot be taken off by a tail lift either.

The realistic options are three. The site has a forklift with sufficient reach and a driver - which is the normal case at an operating warehouse. The site has nothing, in which case a vehicle with a crane or a moffett-type offload capability is needed and must be specified at quote stage. Or the load is broken into hand-manageable bundles, which multiplies the vehicle movements and is rarely economic.

Empty and newly built units are where this bites. A racking delivery to a shell building frequently arrives before any plant is on site, and nobody has thought about who lifts it off. Establish it early: forklift capacity and tine length, who is operating it, and whether the yard has the space for a long vehicle to manoeuvre.

Can a long vehicle reach the site?

Often less easily than expected. Industrial estates are usually fine; town-centre units, farm buildings, retail stockrooms and older sites frequently are not.

The constraints to check are the approach road, the yard turning circle, any height barrier, and whether the vehicle can present its bed to the offload point rather than to a wall. A step frame or an 18-tonne rigid needs meaningful space to manoeuvre, and a delivery that requires reversing 200 metres down a single-track lane is a different job from one into an open yard.

Where a site genuinely cannot take a long vehicle, the answer is shorter components delivered on a smaller vehicle - which is a design question for the racking supplier rather than a transport one - or a transhipment. Both cost more than getting it right at the order stage. Vehicles are ULEZ-compliant for city sites and GPS-tracked.

Do you install the racking or issue load notices?

No. We deliver to site; installation, alignment, floor fixing, load notice signage and inspection stay with the installer and the operator.

Racking safety is a defined discipline. The Storage Equipment Manufacturers' Association publishes the codes most UK installers work to, including guidance on load notices and on periodic inspection by a SEMA Approved Rack Inspector. Employers also have duties under the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations 1998 for equipment used at work. A carrier plays no part in any of it.

What we do is deliver complete, matched sets to the right place. Racking components only work in matched families - a beam from one system does not fit an upright from another - so consignments are kept together and checked against your delivery note at collection. Splitting a racking order across vehicles arriving on different days is where most on-site delays come from.

Can you move dismantled racking between sites?

Yes, and second-hand racking is a substantial market. Used racking moves between warehouses, to and from dealers, and out of sites that are closing.

Used loads differ from new ones in a way that matters. New racking arrives banded, labelled and in matched bundles; dismantled racking arrives as whatever the crew stacked, frequently unbanded, sometimes with damaged components mixed in. Bundling and banding before collection is worth the time - loose steel in a moving vehicle damages itself and everything near it.

The second point is that damaged racking should not quietly go back into service. Components with impact damage are a safety matter for whoever installs them next, and separating them at dismantling rather than at installation is far cheaper. That is the installer's call, not ours, but it affects how the load should be organised. See our auction house collections for racking bought at sale.

Can you sequence deliveries to an installation programme?

Yes, and on a large installation it is worth doing. A full warehouse racking scheme can be tens of vehicle loads, and delivering it all at once fills the floor the installers need to work on.

The pattern that works is delivery by aisle or by zone, matched to the installation sequence, so each load is consumed before the next arrives. That needs the installer's programme and a site that can accept a vehicle on demand rather than by appointment only.

Where a site is operating during installation - an extension into a live warehouse, or a reconfiguration around stock - deliveries usually move out of hours to avoid competing with the operation's own vehicle movements. We work evenings and weekends across the network. See our pallet delivery service for palletised elements.

Can you deliver to a construction site before handover?

Yes, and new-build warehouses are where a large share of racking goes. The complication is that a site under construction runs to a different regime from an operating warehouse.

Access is through the main contractor's gate with an induction, a permit and personal protective equipment requirements. The driver reports to a site office rather than a goods-in department. Site working hours are frequently earlier than commercial hours, and the delivery window is set by the contractor rather than by the racking installer who ordered the steel.

The physical constraints are different too. Yard surfaces may be unfinished, drainage may be open, and the route to the building may not be the route it will eventually be. A long vehicle carrying 10 m uprights needs a manoeuvring area that a part-finished site may not yet have.

Establish the gate location, the site contact, the induction requirement and the delivery window at booking. Where a site cannot yet accept a long vehicle, the honest answer is usually to delay rather than to attempt it. See our construction industry hub.

Can you carry mezzanine flooring and staircases?

Yes, and mezzanine components come with their own constraints. Beams run up to around 8 m, floor decking is heavy per pallet, and a staircase is an awkward welded assembly that does not break down.

Decking is the weight element: chipboard or steel floor panels palletised for a mezzanine of any size add up quickly, and a pallet needs a forklift or a tail lift rather than hands. Handrail and balustrade sections are long and light, and their powder coating chips if they travel loose against steel.

Staircases and landing assemblies usually arrive welded and are the single most awkward item in a mezzanine package - they do not stack, do not nest, and need their own space on the bed. Tell us if one is included, because it changes the load plan more than its weight suggests.

What does racking delivery cost?

One fixed price per dedicated job, quoted upfront, fuel and goods-in-transit insurance included.

From £50 (ex VAT). Final price depends on distance, vehicle, urgency and time - quoted in full upfront before you book. Related: pallet delivery and locker delivery. Call 0121 720 3841 or use our contact page.