Unless you’re in the professional furniture moving business, packing personal belongings into a truck or van isn’t something you do every day. So using professional methods is a good idea, especially if you’re moving furniture cross country. One thing you don’t want to do is start stuffing items of dissimilar size and weight haphazardly in the truck, with no thought given to efficient space usage. Taking a more logical and systematic approach to this task should result in a lot less aggravation, and minimize the possibility of your possessions being damaged en route. If in doubt, think through what real furniture movers would do!
The following list of timely tips represent the orderly sequence that most professional furniture movers use to load a truck:
1. Pack Uniform Boxes & Containers
Start by packing all small and semi-fragile items in solid, sturdy moving boxes of the same size, to make stacking them in the truck a lot easier. Try to avoid any containers that will leave gaps, such as trash cans and plastic bins. Prepare the packed boxes for loading by separating them according to weight and marking them accordingly.
2. Move Heavy Furniture Into Truck First
The first things to go into the back of the truck are heavy, bulky items like furniture and appliances. Removing space inhibitors, like table legs, will help a lot. Longer items like mattresses, carpets, and sofas need to be lined up against the sides. Having the heavy articles located in the middle of the truck’s wheelbase will stabilize the load, and make handling more predictable.
3. Load Your Boxes
Next to load the heavy stuff should be the aforementioned packed boxes. Make certain they are fitted tightly – floor to ceiling, and side to side. The heaviest of your weight-separated boxes should naturally go on the bottom, with the lightest ones on top.
4. Add Lightweight Furniture & Irregular Items
The last things to load will be odd-shaped and light-weight articles that aren’t fragile. Finding the right spot for these might pose a challenge, but keep in mind any left-over gaps can be filled with anything soft and flexible, like pillows, blankets, and towels. Properly arranged, they can act as excellent buffers and space fillers.
5. Make Sure Everything is Secured – Like Pro Furniture Movers Do!
Once everything is onboard the truck, check for any excessive side movement in the packing and tug on your hold-down straps one last time, before locking the ramp and backdoors.
Additional Tips
- Keep anything super-fragile, liquid, or perishable out of the truck entirely, and plan on putting them in your vehicle, nicely wrapped and secured, of course.
- All furniture and anything with sharp edges should be wrapped with blanket pads or their equivalent. Pay particular attention to glass items such as mirrors and paintings. One of the best ways to keep them from breaking is to create a protective wooden cross frame, isolated and suspended in packing material that prevents any side impacts from cracking the glass. This may seem like a lot of bother, but not if you happen to be superstitious, or just don’t like cleaning up glass shards!
Moving day doesn’t necessarily have to be a major hassle if you plan, and have lots of extra help. Just knowing that everything you own is safe and secured for the trip, literally allows you to move on to the next exciting chapter of your life! For additional moving tips, check out these other helpful furniture moving resources: