Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial areas of cities and towns. They come equipped with loading docks to load and unload trucks; or sometimes are loaded directly from railways, airports, or seaports. They also often have cranes and forklifts for moving goods, which are usually placed on ISO standard pallets loaded into pallet racks.

Small and medium-sized businesses make up the bulk of borrowers for C&I loans because they generally cannot generate sufficient cash flow to continuously self-fund operations and because they lack access to the equity and bond markets that large companies enjoy.