How to pack a truck? How to load your container?
Here are some tips for loading a moving truck like a pro mover so you can use all the space that is available to you.
Follow these simple packing and loading tips and you’ll notice that you’ll not only pack more efficiently but your move will go much smoother than you might have imagined:
Some experts believe that the largest items should be loaded in first to ensure you have the room necessary for them. Others believe that you should load the boxes in first, building a wall of boxes from the backside of the truck to the door. Either way is fine, but if you have a lot of equal-sized boxes, you might find it easier to go with the wall of boxes to maximize your space. By packing this way, you can load up the truck, floor to ceiling with boxes. Just make sure you tie everything down to avoid an avalanche (using large pieces of furniture for this purpose is also recommended).
Loading the truck:
The best defense against costly claims is a properly loaded truck.
A tightly-packed truck is a well-packed truck. A snug load will not shift (much), forward and backward or laterally.
Keeping items from bouncing up and down is also important, although because of those odd-shaped items in the customer’s garage you’ll virtually always end up with some space here and there between the top of your load and the roof of the truck.
Fortunately, a tight front-to-back and side-to-side pack job compensates for this.
A few basic concepts:
- Load by creating ‘tiers’ – essentially vertical layers – one at a time.
- Create a ‘base’ for each tier using the heaviest and strongest items: appliances, solid pieces of furniture, or boxes like dish packs and wardrobes.
- The higher up in the tier, the lighter the items.
- Don’t put furniture with thin legs on the bottom of a load. Avert potential catastrophe by placing such items higher up and, whenever feasible, upside down. If the legs can be removed, even better; this prevents them from damage while saving space and further tightening the load.
- Note: Some movers will stand mattress/box springs lengthwise on top of a dresser or low bookcase; this is one effective method of building a tier that will keep the tiers behind it secure. In such a case, the strap will go higher – about midway up the mattress or box spring. ALWAYS USE STRAPS OR ROPE!
Use straps or rope
Packing like an expert means you will have your truck loaded up floor to ceiling, but this doesn’t mean that these items won’t still shift in transport.
To protect all of your items, use packing straps throughout the process to keep certain items safe and secure.
If needed, rather than strapping it all in at the end, strap down sections at a time for optimum safety.
Distribute weight evenly when loading a moving truck
Distributing the weight evenly throughout the truck will not only make it easier to load and unload but it will make the truck easier to control once you get on the road. Load the heaviest items against the walls so you can keep the middle of the floor open for easier loading.
Loading pictures and mirrors
Pictures and mirrors can break all too easily in the back of a moving truck, so protect them by sliding them in between mattresses. They should still be wrapped and packed but by placing them between mattresses, it will make the best use of your space while ensuring nothing gets placed on top of them.
Disassemble tables for packing
Tables take too much space when left together. To condense the size of a table, just take it apart and load it in the truck in pieces (properly wrapped). You can set the table on its side, flat against the wall and it hardly takes up any space. Or, if the table is too problematic to take apart, load it into the truck and store boxes or other items underneath it and on top of it to maximize your space.
Store couches on end
If you are moving a sofa and a loveseat, we would recommend you placing the loveseat on top of the sofa. But if you only have a couch, it takes up more cubic feet in a moving truck when laid in the truck horizontally; therefore, set it on its end and drastically reduce the amount of space it takes up. Most moving trucks have high enough ceilings to accommodate a long couch placed vertically. (THIS DOESN’T APPLY TO OUR 16ft TRUCKS)
Use bookshelves
You can’t store books on a bookshelf as its being moved but it can definitely be a convenient solution for storing smaller boxes. By loading up bookshelves with boxes, you’re using that space to the fullest, otherwise, the space on the inside of the bookshelf would be holding nothing but air while the boxes would be taking up space in another part of the truck.
DIY Moving: if you’re renting a truck or trailer, chances are you will need help to load, unload or pack your items.
You can also hire a driver to drive your rental truck.
Thanks!
Keep this going please, great job!