Can you finance warehouse racking, conveyors and automation?
Yes, and on qualifying files it can all go on one deal, installation included. Here’s what racking, mezzanines, conveyor and dock equipment list for and what a project runs per month. We’ll also cover what changes once the equipment is bolted to the building.
On this page
A forklift is simple collateral: it has a serial number and it drives onto a trailer. Racking and conveyor are engineered for your building and anchored to your floor. The crew that puts them in is a real part of the bill, too. It’s still materials handling equipment, and you can finance all of it, with a few different questions along the way. Everything we fund for warehouses and distribution centers is on our warehouse equipment financing page.
Can you finance warehouse racking and shelving?
Yes. Pallet racking, shelving and mezzanines are financed like other equipment, on an equipment finance agreement over 24 to 84 months or a lease over 24 to 60. New, used and refurbished racking all qualify, from a dealer, an auction or a private seller.
The catch with warehouse racking financing is size. A few frames and beams won’t reach our usual minimum of about $15,000, so a small order works best bundled with decking, installation, dock equipment or a lift truck on the same deal. On the other end, deals run to $5 million and up.
Used racking finances too, underwritten on the useful life it has left at the end of the term. Expect 10% to 15% down on used equipment from a dealer and 15% to 25% on a private-party sale, which also adds a lien search and an inspection or appraisal on larger items.
What warehouse equipment can be financed in one project?
Most of the fit-out. On qualifying files, racking, conveyor and automation projects are financed as one transaction, so the warehouse makes a single payment instead of one per vendor. That can include:
- Storage. Pallet racking, shelving and mezzanines.
- Conveyor and sortation. Gravity and powered conveyor, and sortation systems.
- Automation. Autonomous mobile robots (AMRs), automated guided vehicles (AGVs) and pick-to-light systems.
- Dock equipment. Dock levelers, dock seals and shelters, and vehicle restraints.
- Lift trucks and access equipment. Forklifts, reach trucks, order pickers and scissor lifts bought for the same building.
- Soft costs. Freight, installation and engineering, on qualifying files.
Forklifts bring their own questions about hours and batteries, covered in our forklift financing guide. If your conveyor feeds a packaging line, see packaging line financing for the machines at the end of it.
How much do warehouse racking, mezzanines and conveyor cost?
The parts are modest. One dealer lists 42-inch-deep upright frames at about $157 to $309 and 8-foot step beams at about $47 to $55. What drives the total is how many positions you need, plus engineering, freight, permits and installation, and none of the listings below include those.
| Equipment | Listed asking price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Pallet rack upright frame, 42 in. deep, 12 to 20 ft tall | About $157 to $309 per frame | One dealer’s catalog; condition not stated |
| Pallet rack beam, 8 ft new; 93 to 120 in. used | About $47 to $55 per 8 ft step beam in the same catalog; about $12 to $35 used | Used: a 93 in. Speedrack beam in fair condition ($12) and a 120 in. structural beam in good condition ($35) |
| Steel mezzanine kit, 8 ft high, new | About $10,588 (10 x 10 ft) to $31,069 (10 x 20 ft) | Decking, handrails and stairs included; listed lead time 10 to 12 weeks, estimated shipping 14 to 16 weeks |
| Used structural steel mezzanine, 2,040 sq ft | About $40,800 ($20 per sq ft) | One used-equipment dealer’s listing |
| Mechanical dock leveler, 6 x 8 ft | About $5,712 to $6,875 | 20,000 to 50,000 lb capacity; leveler only |
| Gravity roller conveyor | About $79 to $170 per fixed 5 to 10 ft section; about $5,292 to $12,529 for expandable flexible conveyor | Unpowered |
| Powered conveyor, sortation, AMRs and pick-to-light | No reliable published prices | Quoted per project |
Listed asking prices checked October 2026, not appraisals or offers. Equipment only: no freight, engineering, permits or installation.
Here’s what a project comes to per month at an assumed 9%:
| Amount financed | 48 months | 60 months | 84 months (EFA only) |
|---|---|---|---|
| $75,000 | About $1,866 | About $1,557 | About $1,207 |
| $150,000 | About $3,733 | About $3,114 | About $2,413 |
| $250,000 | About $6,221 | About $5,190 | About $4,022 |
| $400,000 | About $9,954 | About $8,303 | About $6,436 |
| $750,000 | About $18,664 | About $15,569 | About $12,067 |
Example payments at an assumed 9%, in arrears, with no money down. Leases run 24 to 60 months, so the 84-month column applies to equipment finance agreements only. Deals over $500,000 need a full financial package. Illustrative, not an offer.
Can installation, engineering and permits be financed with the equipment?
Installation, engineering and freight can, on qualifying files, so the install crew isn’t paid out of cash while the steel is financed. Permits and electrical work are less certain. Some programs fund them and some don’t, so ask about each one by name.
Why the difference? A lender can take back a conveyor if a deal goes bad, but not an engineering study or a permit. So some programs cap soft costs at a share of the hard equipment cost, and some fund only the equipment. On a conveyor or AMR project, where controls and integration can be a big part of the bill, I’d ask about that cap before the rate. We covered the same problem for robot cells in financing automation projects.
Questions worth asking any funder:
- Which soft costs will you fund? Freight, installation, engineering, permits, electrical, training. Get the list in writing.
- Is there a cap? If so, is it a share of the equipment cost or of the whole project?
- What about the costs you won’t fund? Plan to cover permits or electrical from cash or a line of credit, and keep the term financing for the equipment.
How do lenders look at racking and conveyor that’s bolted to the building?
As equipment that may have become a fixture. Under the Uniform Commercial Code, fixtures are goods “so related to particular real property” that an interest in them arises under real estate law. Anchored racking and installed conveyor can qualify, which affects who gets paid first if something goes wrong.
Under Article 9 of the UCC, which every state has adopted with some local changes, a lender’s claim on fixtures generally ranks behind the building’s owner or mortgage holder. There are two common ways a funder moves ahead:
- A fixture filing. A lender financing the purchase can generally get priority by recording a fixture filing before the equipment is installed or within 20 days after.
- Consent from the owner or mortgage holder. When the building’s owner or lender consents in writing, or disclaims any interest in the equipment, the funder’s claim comes first.
If you lease your building, that second route is the landlord consent or waiver your funder may ask for. Ask early, because a missing waiver can hold up closing. If you own the building and it carries a mortgage, the funder may want that lender to sign off too.
Then there’s resale value. In my view, installed racking and conveyor are thinner collateral than a forklift: racking has to come down before it can be sold, and a conveyor layout was designed around one building. So expect the funder to look harder at your cash flow and how much you’re putting down.
How do progress payments work on a phased warehouse project?
When a rack installer or integrator wants deposits during the build, a progress or pre-funding arrangement lets the funder pay them, so the money doesn’t have to come out of your operating account first. Details vary by funder, so pin them down before anything is ordered:
- What do you charge on money advanced before the system is finished? Ask how it’s calculated and when it’s billed.
- When does the regular payment start? At final installation, at your sign-off, or on a set date.
- What if the project runs late? Permits and commissioning can slip, so know what happens to the schedule.
- Is each phase its own schedule? Or does everything wait for the last phase?
If your phases are close together, one agreement with progress funding keeps it simple. If they’re a year apart, I’d finance each phase as it’s installed, so the second phase can change without reworking the first deal. A line of credit can also bridge a deposit, as long as you pay it back when the term financing funds.
Should you lease or finance material handling equipment?
For racking, conveyor and dock equipment, financing to own usually fits better. That equipment is long-lived, so an equipment finance agreement or a $1 buyout lease pays it off and leaves it yours after the last payment.
Material handling equipment leasing comes in three forms: a $1 buyout, a 10% buyout, and a fair market value (FMV) lease, where the funder owns the equipment and you buy it at market value, return it or renew. Leases run 24 to 60 months. An FMV lease on racking means planning to hand back steel bolted to your floor, with the lease deciding who pays to take it down. I’d rather own it.
| Equipment | Usual structure | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Pallet racking, shelving and mezzanines | Own: EFA or $1 buyout lease | Long-lived, and an FMV return means paying to take installed steel down |
| Conveyor and sortation | Own: EFA or $1 buyout lease | Long-lived, and laid out for your building |
| Dock levelers and dock equipment | Own: EFA or $1 buyout lease | Long-lived and built into the dock |
| AMRs, AGVs and pick-to-light | Price an EFA against an FMV lease | A lease can fit if you expect to replace the technology before the steel |
| Forklifts | Depends on shifts | One shift: own. Multi-shift fleets that wear trucks out in three to five years: FMV lease |
If you’re comparing quotes, here’s how $1 buyout, FMV and EFA contracts differ.
Does Section 179 apply to racking, conveyors and warehouse automation?
Often, yes. IRS Publication 946 says property attached to a building can qualify unless it’s a structural component, and that fixtures can count even where local law treats them as real estate. So racking, conveyor and automation equipment, new or used, can qualify. Where the line falls for a mezzanine or a rack-supported structure is a question for your tax advisor.
For 2026, the limit is $2,560,000, reduced dollar for dollar once the Section 179 property you place in service passes $4,090,000 (IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32). That phase-out can matter on a full distribution-center fit-out. Bonus depreciation is also a permanent 100% for qualified property acquired after January 19, 2025 (IRS Notice 2026-11).
Financing doesn’t change the deduction. Equipment bought on an EFA or a $1 buyout lease with nothing down is deducted the same as a cash purchase, as long as it’s placed in service by December 31. On an FMV lease the funder owns the equipment, so you deduct the payments as rent.
That December 31 date is the part to watch on an installed project. Conveyor still being commissioned in January may not count as placed in service this year, and on a phased job, ask your tax advisor whether each phase counts on its own. Our Section 179 year-end playbook covers the timing, and the Section 179 calculator runs the estimate.
Frequently asked questions
Can you finance used pallet racking?
Yes. New, used and refurbished racking is financed from dealers, auctions and private sellers, and used equipment is underwritten on its remaining useful life at the end of the term. Expect 10% to 15% down on used equipment from a dealer and 15% to 25% on a private-party sale, with a rate roughly one to three points above the same equipment bought new.
What’s the smallest racking order you can finance?
Our usual minimum is about $15,000. A few frames and beams won’t reach that, so add decking, installation, dock equipment or a lift truck to the same deal. Larger projects run to $5 million and more.
Can installation and engineering be financed with racking and conveyor?
Yes, on qualifying files. Freight, installation and engineering can go into the same payment as the equipment, so the warehouse makes one payment for the whole fit-out. Ask separately about permits and electrical work, and ask whether soft costs are capped at a share of the equipment cost.
Do I need my landlord’s consent to finance racking or conveyor?
If you lease your building, expect the funder to ask for one. Installed equipment can become a fixture. Under the UCC as the states have adopted it, a lender’s claim on fixtures generally ranks behind the building owner’s. Written consent from the owner is one way around that. Ask your landlord early so the waiver doesn’t hold up closing.
Can a vendor’s deposit be financed before the system is installed?
Yes. Progress or pre-funding arrangements are available where a vendor requires deposits during the build. Ask what the funder charges on money advanced before the system is finished and when the regular payment starts.
How long can you finance warehouse equipment?
Equipment finance agreements run 24 to 84 months and leases 24 to 60 months. The term can’t run past the equipment’s remaining useful life, so used equipment is often written on a shorter term than new. A $150,000 project comes to about $3,114 a month over 60 months at an assumed 9%.
Does Section 179 apply to racking and conveyor?
Often, yes. IRS Publication 946 says property attached to a building can qualify unless it’s a structural component. The 2026 limit is $2,560,000, phasing out above $4,090,000, and the equipment has to be placed in service by December 31. On a fair market value lease you deduct the payments as rent instead. Confirm with your tax advisor.
What credit score do you need to finance warehouse equipment?
Many established-business programs start around a 600 FICO, and two or more years in business opens the broadest programs. A business under a year old is underwritten as a startup, which typically means 700+ personal credit, relevant industry experience and working capital left after the purchase. Qualifying deals up to $500,000 can be decided on the application alone.
Price your warehouse project.
Enter the project total, term, down payment and structure in the Quote Builder and get an estimated payment, with no credit pull. When the numbers work, one short application and a soft credit inquiry match you with a dedicated funding professional who handles the deal through funding.
This article is general information about financing warehouse racking, conveyor and automation. It is not tax, legal, or accounting advice, or a commitment to finance. Prices shown are listed asking prices, not appraisals or offers. Tax treatment and lien priority depend on your contract, your state and your business; confirm with your CPA and attorney. All financing is subject to credit approval and underwriting.