How to Load a Moving Truck the Right Way

• To be able to properly load the moving truck and ensure the safety of your items during transit, you need to prepare well – choose the right size moving truck, make sure you have the necessary tools and equipment, provide the best possible protection to your belongings, take measures to protect your property, clear the way from obstacles, and ask friends to help you lift and carry your household items and load them on the moving vehicle.
• When loading the moving van, be sure to distribute the weight of your items evenly throughout the truck and to secure the items as you load.
• Start with your largest and heaviest items, load the front of the truck first, and work your way toward the back. Load the truck in rows from floor to ceiling and make sure every layer is independently secured. The best way to pack a moving truck is explained in greater details below.

Moving house is known to be hard – and rightly so. Every step of the relocation process has its own challenges and poses its own risks. From the big concerns of finding an appropriate new home and ensuring a smooth transition to your new life, through the emotional turmoil of leaving friends and familiarity behind, to the laborious tasks of packing up your home and putting the necessary paperwork in order, every stage of the process requires careful planning, adequate preparation, and proper execution. A single mistake – even in a seemingly small detail – can cause a lot of trouble and ruin your moving experience.

This is all the more true in the event of a self-move when you can’t rely on professional help and need to take care of every single moving task yourself. You need to know how to do things right or you risk turning your move into a relocation nightmare. And since ensuring the safety of your belongings is, arguably, the most essential factor in achieving a successful relocation, you’ll definitely want to know how to provide good protection to your items during transit.

Proper packing, of course, comes first in that regard. Proper loading is a close second. Even a well-packed item can be easily damaged if it bumps against another in the moving truck or topples over during a sharp turn or a sudden stop. Besides, an improperly packed truck will be more difficult to drive and, therefore, more likely to have an accident. On top of that, if you can’t pack the truck tightly and utilize the storage space well enough, you may be forced to make multiple trips between your old residence and your new one (or leave some of your items behind if that is not an option).

So, before you start carrying boxes up the ramp of your rented moving vehicle, make sure you know how to pack a moving truck the right way – so that you can maximize the available space and minimize the risk of damage to your items.

What to Do Before You Start Packing a Moving Truck

As is usually the case, proper preparation matters as much as the actual job itself – to be able to properly load the moving truck and ensure your safe and smooth relocation experience, you need to be well prepared:

• Choose the right size moving truck – You need a vehicle that is big enough to accommodate all your items, but not so large that it remains half-empty – you don’t want to be paying for space you don’t use. To find out what size moving truck will be right for you, you need to calculate the total cubic footage of the items you have for moving and check what amounts different trucks can hold (click here for more detailed information on the topic). Keep in mind though that truck rental companies calculate the entire space in the vehicles when listing the sizes of their moving trucks in cubic feet, but it is virtually impossible to use the full capacity of the trailers as no one can load and pack a truck so well that there are absolutely no empty spaces (although professional packers come pretty close to it). Therefore, it is advisable to opt for a moving van that has about 15% more storage space than the estimated cubic footage of your belongings. Make sure the vehicle you rent comes equipped with a loading ramp and tie downs;
• Have all the necessary tools and equipment – To avoid property damage and personal injuries while loading the moving truck and minimize the risk of damage to your items, you need to use the right equipment for the job – a moving dolly, furniture sliders, moving blankets, moving straps, etc. These simple, yet highly useful tools will make your DIY-move much safer, easier, and more efficient;
• Provide the best possible protection to your belongings – Use quality packing materials and safe packing techniques to ensure that your items survive the move intact and unscathed. Place as many of your items as you can in similar-sized moving boxes – professional packing boxes are very sturdy and designed to stack nicely on top of one another, which helps maintain the integrity of the load. Make sure all boxes are labeled with their contents, destination room, and necessary handling instructions;

  

• Disassemble furniture – Taking large furniture pieces apart will make them easier to pack and carry and will reduce the risk of damage to the items during the relocation. It will also help maximize the space in the truck and distribute the load more evenly. Click here to find out how to pack furniture for moving in a safe and efficient manner;
• Protect your property – Be sure to take some precautionary measures to prevent damaging your property while hauling heavy items around and taking them out of the home and into the moving truck. Cover floors and staircases with protective, anti-slippery materials, wrap banisters and railings in moving blankets, use foam padding and corner guards to protect door frames and wall corners, etc.;
• Clear the way from obstacles – Ensure a safe “route” to the moving truck – remove debris, fallen leaves, snow, ice, mud, and other potential hazards from the path between the front door of your home and the moving van; remove potted plants, boxes, and other items from the entryway and the corridors of your home; take down hanging items such as wind chimes, pictures, and mirrors; etc.;
• Ask friends for help – Loading a moving truck is not a one-man job – you should never lift and carry heavy items by yourself. You risk not only injuring yourself and/or damaging your belongings and your property (if you drop a heavy piece of furniture or a box of breakables, for example), but also wasting precious time and even losing money in the process (your truck rental time will be longer and will cost you more, you may need to pay for repairs and replacements, etc.). Having friends to help will speed up the process and make it safer and easier. (See also: Let friends help you move)

Now you’re ready to get your rental truck and start loading it.

How to Load a Moving Truck Safely and Efficiently

The best way to pack a moving truck is to create a tight, evenly distributed load, so that everything is balanced and your items are secured in place:

1. Lay a tarp on the floor of the trailer to protect your items from dust and dirt;
2. Load your largest and heaviest items first – kitchen appliances, weighty furniture (dressers, cabinets), etc. Place them in the front of the truck (against the wall closest to the cab) and be sure to distribute their weight evenly – for example, position the washer on the opposite side from the fridge;
3. Pack in rows – from floor to ceiling, with the heaviest items on the bottom. The top of a tier should be close to the trailer ceiling, so you may want to stack some lightweight items on top of your appliances and other heavy household objects, if there’s too much space left above them;
4. Pack items tight, like a jigsaw puzzle, to prevent them from shifting and rubbing against one another during transit. When you finish the first tier, fill the small gaps between the items with soft, non-breakable items like bags of clothing or linen, pillows, etc. that can be “crushed” to accommodate any empty space in the truck;

   

5. Wrap a ratchet strap or rope around the items from the first layer to hold them together and keep them secured in place;
6. Load longer items (sofas, headboards, mattresses, etc.) next – put them along the long walls of the track and keep them upright to optimize space. Secure each of these items to the sides of the truck with straps and use moving blankets and plastic wrap to provide some extra padding between them. Place pictures and mirrors upright between mattresses and headboards and tabletops – between couches;
7. Position desks, chairs, tables and other similar pieces in the middle. Put some heavy boxes in the cavities underneath them to optimize the space and help keep the furniture pieces in place;
8. Load the rest of your boxes, taking care to put heavier and larger ones on the bottom and smaller and lighter ones on top;
9. Place miscellaneous, lightweight items on top and around the heavier goods. Make sure they don’t move around during transport;
10. Load open-first boxes and survival bags last, so that you have easy access to your essentials and the most important items from each room. These boxes should be the first to be unloaded when you reach your new home (as they will allow you to make it livable immediately after arrival and will facilitate the unpacking of the other items), so they should be near the back door of the moving truck.

Extra Tips for Packing a Moving Truck

Packing a moving truck is a tricky endeavor, so a few bonus tips and tricks on how to do it right won’t go astray:

• Unless you can park the rented moving truck in your own driveway, reserve a convenient parking place directly in front of the door to your home;
• Keep the items you will need during the trip and your most important and most valuable possessions (documents, jewelry, essential electronics, etc.) in the cab with you (See also: Essential things to have on moving day);
• Load the front of the truck first and work your way toward the back;
• Be careful to distribute the weight of your items evenly throughout the truck – from front to back and side to side. Loading your heaviest belongings in an “I”-formation is a good way to achieve even distribution;
• Load the truck in layers and make sure each layer is self-contained and independently secured, so that the items in it don’t bump into or rub against items from an adjacent layer;
• Make sure every item in the truck is safely wrapped in protective materials (furniture blankets, paper paddings, plastic wrap, mattress covers, etc.) and fully immobilized. Use plenty of padding to provide insulation between the items and make the load as tight as possible. Use sturdy straps or ropes to secure the articles in place;
• Secure the items as you load – tie down each article to keep it safe, then wrap a long sturdy rope (or ratchet strap) around all the items in a tier;

  

• Do not stack boxes containing fragile items under other boxes and make sure any items you put on top of them are lightweight;
• Do not place heavy boxes/items on top of thin-legged furniture;
• Make sure items with protruding metal parts and other sharp-edged objects that could cause damage are not loaded against upholstered or wood furniture;
• Fill any remaining space between the top of the boxes/items and the truck’s ceiling with soft, non-breakable items;
• If there are several people helping you move, designate two of them to remain on the truck while the others are carrying items. This will not only speed up the process, but will also result in a tighter, better fitting load as the same people will be arranging all the items and will know the best place for each and every piece;
• When all your items are loaded on the moving truck, replace the ramp, close the back of the truck, and push the safety pins into place;
• Ensure your personal safety:
  • Wear comfortable clothes according to the current weather conditions, enclosed sturdy shoes with a good grip, and work gloves (avoid baggy clothes and long jewelry pieces that may get snagged and cause you to trip and fall);
  • Use auxiliary moving equipment like dollies and furniture sliders. Secure the items on the dolly well and keep the load balanced;
  • Know your route before you lift an item and plan your next step in advance. Move slowly and carefully;
  • Make sure you can see where you’re walking;
  • Get a firm footing before lifting a heavy object;
  • Lift with your legs and bend your knees when picking up or setting down an item. Keep your back as straight as possible throughout the process;
  • Have a second person support heavy items when taking them down stairs and up the loading ramp;
  • Make sure the loading ramp is fully extended, dry, and free of debris.
• Get moving help – loading a moving truck is a laborious and risky process. If you’re not up to the challenge (or don’t have physically strong friends who are willing to come and help you on moving day), consider hiring professional moving assistance:
  • Loading and unloading services – You can request loading and unloading services from a professional moving company and have a couple of movers come to your home to assist you with loading your items (if you’re working with a nationwide company, they will provide unloading services at your final destination as well – even if you’re moving long distance). You can get as much or as little help as you want – the workers can disassemble your furniture, prepare your larger household items for shipping, and load the moving truck for you, but you can also limit their services to loading heavy furniture or taking care of a specialty item only;

    

  • Moving labor – You can hire several workers to come to your home on moving day and load your items on the rented moving truck. If you’re moving locally, the same team can also help you unload your belongings and take them into your new home. (See also: How to unload a moving truck the right way) You will be charged by the hour for using moving labor services;
  • Pickup and delivery services – If you prefer to pack and unpack your belongings yourself but don’t want to rent and drive a moving truck, you can hire a moving company to transport your items to your new home. The movers will load the moving van, drive it to your final destination, and unload the shipment for you.

Loading a moving truck takes a lot of time and effort – and so does driving it all the way to your new home. You can save yourself that time and avoid any unnecessary self-moving risks by hiring professional movers to help you relocate. The pros will take the burden off your shoulder – both literally and figuratively – and will perform your move in the safest, fastest, and most efficient way possible. Your chosen movers will not only load, transport, and unload your items, but will also provide you with any extra services you may need to ensure the successful outcome of your relocation adventure and will ensure your peace of mind. You won’t have to lift a finger (or a single moving box) and will enjoy a smooth and stress-free moving experience – just make sure you find reliable movers for your forthcoming relocation.

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