What is a pallet position?

A pallet position (also pallet place, pallet space or pallet location) is one place in a rack, or a marked spot on the floor, that holds one pallet. It is the unit warehouses count capacity in and the unit most storage is billed by. A conventional warehouse fits about 1 to 3 positions per m² of floor; automated high-bay stores reach 5 to 8, because they build 25 to 45 m high.

How many depends mostly on the rack type, since each type spends a different share of the floor on aisles. In a 60 × 50 m freezer with 12 m clear height, the cold store tool fits:

A position is not a pallet. Deep lanes can only hold one product each, so a lane stays partly empty while it is used up (honeycombing). With 7 pallets per product, the 7,440 drive-in positions above hold 1,608 pallets on an average day, fewer than the 5,400 of plain selective racking. Comparing stores, or quotes, by positions alone hides that.

In trucks and aircraft “pallet positions” means the pallet places on the deck: a 13.6 m trailer has 33 for Euro pallets (how many fit, and when weight decides).

The long version: Storage density vs selectivity. Which rack type for a freezer or a chiller: Cold storage racking.

Sources

• Published sites: NewCold Truganina, 80,000 positions on 10,453 m² (Food & Drink Business, 2026), 7.7 per m²; Americold Dunkirk NY, 25,000 positions in 181,000 ft² (Refrigerated & Frozen Foods, 2022), 1.5 per m². Further sites in the cold store tool’s research notes.
• Positions and pallets held: the cold store tool engine, frozen room, 400 moves a day.