Four equipment families that live in this tier
Office & institutionalMail carts, file carts, AV stands
Carpet and finished tile. Non-marking polyurethane or TPR. Quiet roll is the spec, not the load number.
Retail & displayDisplay fixtures, stock carts
Visible to customers, so the caster has to look clean. Twin-wheel and architectural casters common here.
Healthcare & labSupply carts, instrument trolleys
Non-marking, easy-clean, often total-lock brake. Polyurethane on polyolefin or thermoplastic rubber.
Light serviceJanitorial, tool, utility kits
The cart works daily but the load stays light. Durability of the swivel matters more than the load rating.
Getting the math right at this tier
The calculation is the same at every load tier: add the equipment weight to the load weight, multiply by a safety factor, divide by the number of casters. At this tier the safety factor is usually 1.3–1.5× because the floors are smooth and the equipment is rarely slammed or towed. So a 300 lb loaded AV cart on four casters needs roughly (300 × 1.4) ÷ 4 = about 105 lb per caster — comfortably inside this tier.
The tier ceiling matters more than the floor. If your math lands above 350 lb per caster, step up to the next tier — don’t buy at the top of this range and hope. The dynamic load rating (the weight the caster handles while rolling) is 60–80% of the static number on the spec sheet, and at this tier most carts roll more than they sit.
The furniture-caster trap — Hardware-store furniture casters look identical to light-duty industrial casters but use unrated bearings and softer materials. They flat-spot under sustained load and the swivel develops play within a year of daily use. If the cart moves every day, buy a rated light-duty caster, not a furniture caster — the price difference is a few dollars and the life difference is years.
The CasterHQ load-rating ladder — per caster
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Under 350 lb · Light duty — Office, display, AV, healthcare carts (you are here)
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351-675 lb · Light-medium — Service carts, tool carts, utility trolleys
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676-1,250 lb · Medium duty — Industrial carts, racks, workbenches
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1,251-2,000 lb · Medium-heavy — Machinery bases, die carts, equipment
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2,001-4,000 lb · Heavy duty — Large machinery, transfer carts, tooling
Light-duty caster FAQs
What’s the difference between this and a furniture caster?Rated bearings, rated materials, and a published dynamic load number. Furniture casters skip all three to hit a low price — fine for a chair that barely moves, wrong for a cart that rolls daily.
Polyurethane or thermoplastic rubber?Polyurethane rolls easier and carries more. TPR is quieter and softer. For hospital and office quiet zones, TPR. For everything else at this tier, polyurethane.
Stem mount or plate mount?Stem mount for furniture-style and existing equipment retrofits. Plate mount for new builds and anything that gets inspected. Both are common at this tier.
Do I need a brake?If the equipment parks on any slope, or near patients or customers, yes — total-lock (wheel + swivel) is the usual choice. On dead-flat floors with light loads, optional.
My math lands at 340 lb per caster — safe?Technically inside the tier, but with no margin. If the cart ever gets overloaded or rolls over a threshold, you’re past rating. Step up to the 351-675 lb tier for headroom.
Not sure which tier you need?
Tell us the equipment weight, the load it carries, and the number of casters. We’ll run the math and confirm the tier.
Call 844-439-4335
