Comparison · · Roll Cages & Roll Containers
Roll Cage Trolley or Open Roll Cage: Which One Moves Your Stock
A roll cage trolley with shelves splits the same volume into two or three decks, so picked orders stay apart and light goods are not crushed: a three layer galvanised one rated 500 kg starts from £64 ex VAT, bulk price. An open nestable roll cage carries the same 500 kg in one space, folds flat and starts from £28 ex VAT, bulk price. Most buyers run both, with the split set by how much of their volume is picked orders rather than full cases.
When does a roll cage trolley with shelves beat an open roll cage?
Both roll into the same vehicle and both are pushed by one person. The difference is what happens to the load inside. An open roll cage is one tall space: you stack it from the bottom up, and whatever goes in first stays there until the top comes off. A roll cage trolley with shelves divides that volume into two or three decks, so trays of bread sit above the cases of tins instead of on top of them.
That difference pays in three jobs. Store replenishment, where one cage serves several aisles and the picker has to reach the middle of the load without unstacking it. Multi drop delivery, where each shelf is a drop and the driver clears one deck at a time. And anything light or crushable: bread and morning goods, bagged salad, boxed cakes, lamps, empty packaging.
Where the load is uniform and heavy, full cases of drinks, sacks, one line of stock per cage, shelves are in the way. An open 500 kg nestable roll cage from £28 ex VAT, bulk price holds more per cage and costs less per cage. Most buyers end up with both, and set the ratio by how much of their volume leaves the building as picked orders rather than full cases.
Roll cage trolleys and open roll cages compared
Capacity below is the rating of the whole unit. Guide prices are ex VAT and confirmed on your written quote.
| Type | Capacity | Best for | Guide price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Two sided mesh roll container with shelves | 300 kg | Light picked orders, morning goods, small packaged lines | from £48 ex VAT, bulk price |
| Three layer galvanised roll cage trolley with brake | 500 kg | Store replenishment and multi drop work, one deck per drop | from £64 ex VAT, bulk price |
| Two sided nestable foldable open roll cage | 500 kg | Full cases, bulk deliveries, fleets that need the empties to nest | from £28 ex VAT, bulk price |
| Rolling steel storage cage | 600 kg | Mixed heavy stock that is stored as well as moved | from £64 ex VAT, bulk price |
The shelved trolleys cost more per unit than the open cages because there is more steel in them and they arrive assembled or part assembled. The question is not which is cheaper per cage but which gets a round of drops done with fewer cages and less handling at the far end.
How much weight goes on each shelf of a roll cage trolley
This is the single thing buyers get wrong. A 500 kg three layer trolley is not three shelves of 500 kg. The figure is for the whole unit, loaded evenly, with the heaviest goods on the bottom deck. On a three layer unit that is a working figure of roughly 150 kg to 200 kg on the bottom deck and less as you go up, because a high shelf raises the centre of gravity and the unit has to stay stable on a ramp and in a moving vehicle.
If one line of stock on its own passes 200 kg per deck, you do not want shelves. Put it in an open 600 kg rolling storage cage from £64 ex VAT, bulk price and load it from the floor of the cage up. Mesh shelves also let dust and spillage through to the deck below, which matters for food and not much else.
Getting the empties back: nesting, folding and the space they need
Open cages are built to come back small. A two sided nestable cage pushes into the one in front, so a line of empties takes a fraction of the floor of the same line loaded. A folding cage drops its sides flat and stacks. That is why bulk delivery fleets stay with open cages: the return leg costs vehicle space, and nesting is what buys it back.
Fixed shelves cannot do either. A shelved roll cage trolley from £64 ex VAT, bulk price takes the same floor space empty as it does full, in the vehicle and in your yard. Before you order a shelved fleet, pace out where the empties will stand between rounds. If that space does not exist, either buy fewer shelved units and keep them on internal replenishment, or specify removable shelves so the cage can be run flat when it is needed as a plain cage.
It is worth counting this properly. Twenty shelved trolleys standing empty occupy the same bay as twenty loaded ones, while twenty nestable cages come back in roughly the space of six or seven.
Brakes, castors and the floor they run on
A loaded cage on a tail lift or a sloped yard needs a brake, and a brake is not standard on every unit. Specify it. The usual arrangement is two swivel castors with brake at the handle end and two fixed at the far end, which gives you a trolley that tracks straight down an aisle and still turns at the end of it.
- Smooth sealed concrete and tail lifts: 100 mm to 125 mm rubber or polyurethane wheels run quietly and do not mark the floor.
- Block paving, worn yards and kerb edges: go up in wheel diameter rather than up in capacity, because the wheel is what stops the cage short, not the frame.
- Chilled and wet areas: ask for a galvanised frame and sealed bearings, since a zinc plated frame that lives in a washdown area will show it within a season.
If the same stock also moves on a flat deck rather than in a cage, compare the cost per unit against a platform trolley, which is cheaper per unit but gives you nothing to stop the load falling off.
What to check before you buy a roll cage trolley
- Internal shelf height. Measure your tallest crate or tray and add 30 mm. Two decks of 600 mm beats three decks that none of your packaging fits into.
- Shelf type: fixed, removable or folding. Removable shelves let one fleet do both jobs and are worth asking about on the quote.
- Footprint against your vehicle. Work from the internal bed width of the vehicle you actually load, not from a standard size.
- Whole unit capacity and how it is spread across the decks, using the working figures above rather than the headline number.
- Brake specification, wheel size and wheel material, matched to your worst floor rather than your best.
- Finish. Zinc plated is fine for a dry building. Dip galvanised is what takes rain, salt and washdown.
- Where the empties stand. Shelved units do not nest, and this is the cost that is missed at the quoting stage.
Put those seven answers in an email with your quantity and the full roll container and roll cage range can be priced against them. Any quantity is welcome, and the written quote confirms price, carriage and timing.
Roll cage trolleys and roll cages in this guide
Rolling Pallets Material Storage Cage, 600 kgfrom £64 ex VAT, bulk price
3-Layer Industrial Logistic Roll Cage Trolley Brakefrom £64 ex VAT, bulk price
Two-Sided Mesh Roll Container with Shelvesfrom £48 ex VAT, bulk price
2 Sided Nestable Foldable Heavy Duty Logistics Wire Mesh Roll Containerfrom £28 ex VAT, bulk priceQuestions people ask
What is a roll cage trolley?
It is a roll container with two or three fixed or removable shelves inside it instead of one open space. The shelves keep picked orders apart and stop light goods being crushed by what is stacked above them.
How much weight can each shelf hold?
The rating is for the whole unit, not per shelf. On a 500 kg three layer trolley, work to roughly 150 kg to 200 kg on the bottom deck and less on the upper decks, with the heaviest goods lowest.
How much does a roll cage trolley cost?
A two sided mesh roll container with shelves starts from £48 ex VAT, bulk price, and a three layer galvanised trolley with a brake starts from £64 ex VAT, bulk price. Your written quote confirms the price for your quantity.
Do shelved roll cages nest or fold?
Fixed shelf units do not nest or fold, so they need the same floor space empty as full. If the empties have to travel back, either specify removable shelves or use nestable open cages for that work.
Which is better for bakery and morning goods?
Shelves, every time. Trays of bread and boxed cakes cannot be stacked on each other, so a two or three deck trolley moves far more of them per trip than an open cage does.
Can I mix shelved and open cages in one order?
Yes. Most buyers order both on one quote and set the ratio by how much of their volume is picked orders rather than full cases. Any quantity is welcome.
