How To Load A Moving Truck

How To Load A Moving Truck

Moving day has arrived and your rental truck is parked outside, ready to be loaded. So, how do you load a moving truck? Knowing beforehand how to load the moving truck as well as the size of moving truck should you use is very important, it will maximize the space you have and minimize any damage from occurring.

Supplies

To load the truck successfully, efficiently and safely, you will need some moving supplies. These can be purchased from most rental truck companies, moving supply stores or hardware stores. You will need:

• A dolly. This will be used to lift heavy items and furniture. It can also be used to move boxes.
• Furniture pads/blankets, plastic wrap and paper padding. This protects furniture from damage.
• Packing tape to secure padding around furniture.
• Moving straps to hold items in place.
• Tarp or plastic wrap

Additional Manpower

Prior to moving day, make sure to arrange helping hands to assist with loading the truck. It is highly advised not to load a moving truck single handedly. Not only is it challenging, the risk of personal injury is high.

Preparing To Load The Truck

The cab – Items that will be needed, such as a toolbox and First Day Essentials should be placed in the cab of the truck along with any valuable items.

Disassemble furniture – Disassembling furniture will make it easier to utilize and maximize the space in the truck. Take furniture apart before it leaves the house and is loaded into the truck. Not everything can be taken apart, listed below are some of the standard items that can be disassembled.

• Dining tables – If the legs are removable, this will allow you to load the table and legs in an upright position.
• Desks.
• Bed frames and headboards (or if moving a waterbed).
• Remove cushions from sofas.
• Dressers – If heavy, remove the drawers and carry to the truck. Place back in dresser once loaded into the truck and tape or wrap so they won’t fall out during transportation.

Make sure to keep any screws and hardware with the furniture item. Place in a bag and tape it to the furniture.

Loading The Truck

Have two people in charge of loading the truck, and the rest of the team responsible for carrying the furniture to the outside of the truck.

Load the heaviest items first – Place heavy items towards the front of the truck. This will maximize the space and prevent the back of the truck from being too heavy, which could cause a dangerous situation once the truck gets on the road. Heavy items include:

• Appliances – Fridge, stove, dishwasher, washing machine, dryer. (If you’re moving your fridge, remember to defrost it prior to moving day). Load these items first and place along the back wall of the truck in their upright positions.
• Large furniture – Sofas, armchairs, coffee tables, entertainments units etc. These will be loaded next.

As the truck will be packed from floor to ceiling, make sure to place the heaviest items at the bottom. You can build small layers of items and use moving straps to hold them together.

Loading longer items into the truck – Items such as sofas, headboards, mattresses, tabletops and long mirrors should be placed upright, along the longest walls of the truck. If possible, secure these items to the side of the truck.

Rugs – Rugs should be rolled up. Protect and secure them in plastic or in a specialized rug storage bag. Having the rug professionally cleaned prior to being rolled is advised. Rugs should be placed upright in the truck.

Loading lighter items – Lighter items should be loaded once all the heavier and large pieces are on the truck. To prevent damage, make sure to place the smaller items, such as: small furniture items, pictures, mirrors, and televisions on top of any furniture or appliances.

Loading boxes – Having boxes of similar size means stacking them will be easier. Otherwise, place the heaviest and largest box at the bottom, then medium weight, and the lightest at the top.

Protecting Your Items

Protecting your furniture and belongings is important. Some prefer to wrap in advance, while the items are still in the home, while others prefer to wrap the items as soon as they are in the truck. If you will be protecting the furniture in the truck, make sure to use a tarp or plastic wrap to cover the floor of the truck.

Adding extra padding and protection for the large items of furniture is good idea. Use moving blankets and plastic wrap. For extra protection on certain items like a mirror, these can be placed between a mattress and a box spring. For any dressers or pieces of furniture with drawers, placing the front against a mattress or the wall of the truck will prevent damage should they open.

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Distributing The Weight

To have a successful DIY move using a rental truck, the load needs to be distributed evenly, and secured. To accomplish this, make sure the heavier items are against the walls at the front of the truck, medium weight items are placed on top of the heavier pieces, and the lighter items are at the very top. To prevent items moving while in transit, make sure everything is strapped down.

Now that you have mastered loading a moving truck, once you arrive at your destination unloading will be easy!