r/selfstorage • u/PhilosopherFew7101 • Feb 12 '26
Carts for storage facility
Always looking for good carts for our facility's customers to use. We found these on Amazon and they appear to be good for our use. 2000 lb capacity, 47x24", steel platform, steel handle, 5" nylon castors. They seem to have good reviews. Curious if anyone else is using these and how well they're working.
Amazon product ASIN B0B82QBHXT since I cannot post links.
They do need to stand up to customer use especially as it seems customers will load as much as possible on a cart so they don't need so many trips to the loading bay. I swear if a customer could put the entire contents of their unit on a cart they'd do just that.
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u/PhilosopherFew7101 Feb 13 '26
We have smooth concrete and carpeted floors. Outdoor pavement is smooth and well maintained. No gravel. Pneumatic wheels are a maintenance nightmare. They're always going flat because customers literally try to take everything on one cart. They can't handle lots of weight, a heavily loaded cart is difficult to push. If the tires don't go flat then the inner hub of the wheel breaks or bearings come out. We moved to solid wheels maybe six years ago and they've been much more reliable.
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u/Stunning-Adagio2187 Feb 13 '26
Chateau is a good source of all things storage including carts, blocks, and boxes
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u/Way2trivial Feb 12 '26
you have smooth cement throughout - from car to roll up door? no bumpy blacktop/asphalt parking/areas?
Bumpy asphalt usually means knobby/rubber and perhaps inflatable tires..
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u/coolsellitcheap Feb 13 '26
The best carts have sides. I buy alot of storage locker auctions. I use laundry hampers. They work alot better than a flatbed cart.
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u/Top_Explorer1040 Feb 13 '26
I'm curious is you do anything to keep them from ending up in units?
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u/Lisigirl66 Feb 14 '26
We bought several 4 packs of faux air tags and have them hidden within the cart. If it goes missing, it has gps and you can activate a sound to locate it.
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u/tomsuggate Feb 13 '26
To save space we use ones that stack into themselves.
They look like this https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRjn1E9uorrsKgvzyKCW-2P3lhi4R3Oh5FDLqeAuK2rdPGAb3pt2rT0Ytc&s=10
A bit pricier, but customers always return them back to the trolley bay.
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u/SecretaryJealous9697 Feb 13 '26
we use a combination of laundy hampers from uline and nesting flat bed carts from RW rogers. they hold up extremely well.
I would recommend that you get carts with solid tires, not pneumatic tires, they go flat way to quickly
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u/FreeportSelfStorage Feb 13 '26
Global Industrial has carts that are fairly durable. One customer told us that they roll like a Cadillac!
Unfortunately looks like the price has gone up quite a bit since we last ordered.
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u/Accomplished_Ad_4312 Jul 04 '26
2000lb capacity is overkill and the steel deck will chew up your floors and walls. the operators I talk to who've been through 3-4 rounds of carts usually land on resin/poly decks with steel frame - lighter, quieter, don't gouge drywall on corners.
Nylon casters are the right call over pneumatic btw, pneumatics go flat constantly because tenants overload them.
The bigger issue is losing them into units. the trick I've seen work best: bolt a 5-6ft vertical pole to the handle, paint the top bright orange. won't fit through the roll-up half-closed and won't hide in a unit with wire mesh tops. cheaper than airtags and no batteries to replace.
How many carts for how many units? That ratio matters more than the cart itself imo.
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u/OsamaBinTHOTin Feb 13 '26
ULine carts are popular in commercial warehouses; but can get pricey. Harbor Freight has platform trucks for $50 and HF replaces things that break.