Need to store your pallets of commercial goods?

There are hundreds of warehouses in the UK so where do you start?

Well first you will need to find a professional warehouse which is able to fit in with your requirements and warehousing needs. You need to determine which services you are searching for from your warehouse operator. Do you only require a warehouse for pallet storage or are you looking for a warehouse which can assist with additional services such as distribution? Perhaps you need a warehouse which can handle order fulfilment services for your company, from storing your goods and pick and packing them right through to ensuring they reach your customers within the allocated timeframe.

Another thing to consider when looking at warehousing is what type of goods you have. Not all warehouses are able to accommodate all types of goods. For example, if you are looking to store Alcohol or Tobacco then you will generally require a Wet Bonded warehouse, whereas if you’re looking to store fresh fruit or sausages then a chilled warehouse or cold storage facility would be more suitable. There are many warehouse options to consider depending on what type of goods you have. These range from Hazardous warehouses through to ambient warehouses.

With so many warehouses to choose from the task can be quite daunting. Whichwarehouse can assist in finding you a suitable facility which meets your exact needs, helping you to narrow down the many available options, making it easier for you to find the right warehouse and allowing you to concentrate on increasing sales and generating more business.

Price is always a large deciding factor for many companies when searching for a suitable warehouse facility, especially if you‘re just starting out. Therefore, in order to obtain some accurate quotes for your pallet storage and not get caught out with unexpected costs, it’s advisable to provide warehouses with as much information as possible.

Many warehouses charge for pallet storage in one of two ways: per pallet if the goods are palletised, or if they’re un-palletised and are bulkier items then they generally charge per sq ft. Quotes will normally be provided in one of the following ways:  pallet storage – £1.60 per pallet per week RH&D (receipt, handling and dispatch) £1.60 in, £1.60 out, or if quoting for bulk in sq ft the price may either be calculated per week or per annum. Some warehouses are designed for more for bulk storage and some are racked which enable the operator to accommodate for more pallet storage in one area.

It’s also a good idea to know how your goods will be arriving. If they’re imported and arriving by container, try to find out if the goods will arrive on pallets or not. If the goods are palletised then your warehouse operator will require the following information in order to provide you with convenient pallet storage:

• How many pallets will be arriving?
• What are the dimensions of the pallets, height, weight etc?  The height will especially determine whether the goods can be racked or not, as generally warehouses tend to have a standard height of up to 1.6m for their racking.
• Are they on standard pallets, euro pallets or if not which type?
• Can they be bulk stacked and if so how many high?
• Are the pallets fragile/hazardous?

If the goods are not palletised and require palletising on arrival, you will need to allow for the cost of removing the goods from the container, placing them on pallets and shrink-wrapping each item. Many warehouses are able to do this for you; however there will be an extra charge for this service. They may refer to this process as de-stuffing or de-vanning the container. This charge will usually be in the hundreds region and should be taken into consideration when calculating your costs.

Finally, with pallet storage warehouses will also charge something called RH&D.  This stands for Receipt, Handling and Despatch and refers to the charges when taking in stock, putting it into place and taking goods from the warehouse ready for despatch.

So you should now be a little more prepared and ready to find the best warehouse for your pallet storage.

Feel free to contact Whichwarehouse. We can carry out a search on your behalf and provide you with quotes to save you time.