Moving to another location on your own or with your family can be really tiring and stressful. However, hiring a professional moving company can be a solution to this problem, although in certain situations you have to do everything yourself. Most of us have experienced this at least once in our lives. In order for everything to go smooth and to save yourself from unnecessary stress, the first thing you should do is to sort out your budget and make checklists. So, how to load a moving truck the best possible way? Let’s find out!
Tips on how to load a moving truck
First of all, you will have to decide between hiring a professional moving company or relocating yourself. A professional moving company will take care of everything and you have nothing to worry about. But, in case you do want to do everything on your own, you should follow the next steps:
- Pick the right size of a moving truck
- Get packing supplies
- Ask family and friends for help
- Disassemble furniture
- Move all furniture in front of a truck
- Load heaviest items first
- Roll up rugs and protect the rest of the furniture
- Load lightest items last
- Even weight distribution
- Secure everything with moving straps
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Pick the right size of a moving truck
Rent a moving truck a few weeks before the move. If you are not sure what kind and size of a truck you might need, just ask the company that you are renting the truck from. They will provide you with information and also help you pick a proper loading truck for your belongings. Do not rent a smaller truck because it is cheaper! If you have a lot of stuff and a small truck, that will most likely mean that some of those things won’t fit in. You might have to go back and forth several times.
Get packing supplies
Get all the necessary packing supplies in order to pack all your belongings properly. Hiring a professional moving company would solve this problem because they would provide the necessary packing supplies. But, if you have to get them by yourself, do not waste your time and get everything as soon as it is possible. Some of packing supplies you might need are:
- Different sizes and types of boxes
- Plastic wraps
- Packing papers
- Furniture / Quilted Pad
- Cushion Foam
- Blankets for mirrors and electronics
- A hand truck or a Dolly
Packing all your belongings requires a lot of different types of boxes!
The best way to go about packing is to make a list of the packing supplies beforehand, so you do not forget anything. Also, a very useful thing to have is an inventory list. If you are interested, you can check here how to make an inventory list!
Ask family and friends for help
Relocating is not something we do every day. Therefore, we need all the help we can get from family, friends or neighbors. So, inform your friends and family about your situation and they will most likely be glad to help you with loading a moving truck. With help, everything will be packed and loaded pretty much fast.
Disassemble furniture
Disassemble everything if you can, in order to save more space in the loading truck. For example, if you disassemble a dining table (removing legs), you can load it into the moving truck upright and save a lot of space. You should do the same with bed frames too, However, there are some pieces of furniture that you cannot disassemble. Try to pack some of the stuff inside of this kind of furniture to, again, save up some space!
Disassemble furniture and load them into a moving truck upright. If you do it like this, you will make more room inside a truck.
Move all furniture in front of the truck
Put all your furniture in front of the truck before you load everything. You will have a better picture of how to load everything properly and how to spread weight evenly.
Load heaviest items first
When the time comes to load a moving truck, keep in mind that all that heavy and bulky stuff should go inside of the truck first. Things like beds, couches, dishwashers, and refrigerators should be placed on the bottom of a loading truck. Do not forget to spread the weight evenly! Also, heavier items should be placed at the back of the truck (near the driver’s cab).
Roll up rugs and protect the rest of the furniture
Be sure to wash and clean rugs before you roll them up. After you roll them, put the plastic wrap around and load them into the truck. You will load them upright, which will save some space for more stuff to load in. Also, protect your mirrors and sensitive electronics (like a tv) with moving blankets.
Load lightest items last
After heavy and bulky items are loaded, we should load in appliances and kitchen items. Things like the coffee maker or toaster should be packed in their original box, if possible. Original boxes you don’t have to label and you will be able to find them easily. After loading appliances it’s time for small and light stuff. Boxes with lighter things should be placed on top of heavy items so they won’t suffer any kind of damage in transport.
Put a coffee maker inside of an original box so you can find it easier.
In case you have a lot of stuff and you want to store some (and live in Florida) you can read up on how to find cheap storage in Florida!
Even weight distribution
Load a moving truck properly. Make sure that weight is distributed evenly on each side of a moving truck. This is why you want to load heavier and bulky things first, placed upright to the sides of a truck or up to the back wall (behind the driver). For example, if you place couch upright on the left side of the truck, you should place a dishwasher and/or refrigerator to the opposite side.
Secure everything with moving straps
Use moving straps to protect your furniture and belongings from shifting and suffering damage while they are in transport. Use straps to secure heavy and bulky items first, then medium ones and at the end on the lightest items. You should secure everything partially, at first, because if you wait to use straps at the end, you won’t be able to reach half of your stuff. And that’s how you load a moving truck!
Another thing you should pay attention to are boxes with essential and valuable things. Both the essentials box and valuables box (or boxes) should be labeled and packed inside your car. You do not want to load a moving truck with valuables or essentials!
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