Insider Tip #4 – Packing Items and Loading a Truck

Hi, this is DD again, this time to discuss some of the issues concerning the packing of items in boxes, and the strategy loading of a truck. This if for those who have decided that they want to rent and drive a truck themselves, and who want to avoid the extra cost of having someone else do this service for them.

Anybody can unload a truck, but it takes a trained person to load a truck correctly so that 1) you and other people are safe on the road, and 2) your items are safe.

If you have a grand piano, a pool table, or a hot tub that you want to transport, it would probably be best to hire professionals.  Grand pianos can weigh up to 1200 pounds and they don’t take well to being dropped.  Pool tables are very persnickety about the way they’re handled, and hot tubs can be just plain gnarly.  Same thing with a gun safe, or a chandelier.

That being said, you want to use some basic strategies for loading your truck. But before that, we’ll need to discuss a little bit about packing.

            Packing Supplies

First of all for packing, everything should go in a box, even plants (U-Haul lamp boxes are good for tall plants). U-Haul has a whole range of box sizes and types, including short and tall wardrobe boxes which have crossbars from which to hang your clothing. These have even been known to hold chandeliers. And The Shipping Connection (Moving Connections’ sister company) has not only U-Haul boxes in stock, but also stocks more than 100 box sizes and custom types of boxes made by major brand name manufacturers. These include ski boxes, snowboard boxes, and guitar boxes, as well as a large number of boxes for paintings and mirrors.

U-Haul also has mirror boxes as well as special dish boxes and glass boxes (with individual cells for dishes and glasses with foam wrappers).

Moving Connections also stocks packing paper, tape, tape guns, stretch wrap, moving blankets and pads, etc. So if you need packaging materials, we have everything you need in our store.

            Packing

The idea in packing boxes is to isolate and cushion each fragile item, and to make certain each package is firmly packed in order to support any packages on top of it.  Of course, you always want to load the heaviest items on the floor of the truck, but most boxes will have to bear some weight of boxes above, unless they’re going on top.

There are a few things to keep in mind when packing items, some of which might seem counter-intuitive.  For instance, dishes should not be laid flat, but should stand on their edges with a lot of packing paper underneath and between each dish. Laying dishes flat will almost assure that some or many will be broken, even with packing paper between them and underneath.

Everything should be put in a box with the exception of your heaviest and largest items.

Your largest and heaviest items should be wrapped in professional grade moving blankets to provide cosmetic and structural protection for the items.  You can secure the blankets around each item with stretch wrap (some prefer to use tape).  This includes tables and headboards for beds, and similar items.

            Loading for Personal Safety

First, load your heaviest items along the sides of the truck and strap them in tightly to the rails that line the interior sides of the truck. Be certain to use ratchet straps, as rope or twine will begin to slacken and sag in a short time due to vibrations and bumps during transport. This will cause your heavy items to shift and jar loose, which will cause packages and other items to tumble and break. You’ll end up with a big, expensive mess when you open the cargo bay door (if you can) when you arrive at your destination. And if you can open the doors, you might very well be injured when the goods fall out on top of you because they have toppled. So make certain that your heavy items are strapped to the wall with strong ratchet straps.

The next consideration is to balance the load to keep the truck from swerving or tipping over on turns and curves or when braking fast.  The heaviest items should go towards the front, while the less heavy items can go behind them. Again, use professional grade ratchet straps (available at many U-Haul rental centers) to secure your items to the sides of the truck.  Each truck has wooden rails running along the interior sides for this purpose, so it is wise to use them.

 Make certain that you don’t have a significant imbalance on either the left or right side of the truck, as this could cause the truck to tip over. 

            Large and Odd Shaped Items

Large and odd shaped items that are not heavy should also go along the sides of the truck. The next section has instructions on building “walls”, and you will build your walls around these items. This might seem unwieldy, but it works.

            Loading to Protect Your Cargo

There are a few basic strategies and tactics to remember when loading a truck.  First of all, you want to build “walls”. A wall is simply a stack of packages from side to side and bottom to top. In their earliest training sessions, dock workers are taught that their packing should be so tight that you can’t get a credit card between your packages, and that includes between the top package and the ceiling of the truck. This might seem a bit far-fetched, but you get the idea. Pack ‘em tight, or as tightly as you can.  The main thing is not to leave any spaces between packages that might cause them to buckle, which would probably cause the wall to topple.

Start out at the front of the cargo bay at one side (most Americans are more comfortable starting from left to right) with a heavy, larger box that is well packaged. Then go along the floor from left to right placing other heavy packages of similar sizes as much as possible. Of course, packages are going to vary in size and weight. This is actually a good thing, because it pretty well prevents you from making what are called “columns”, which can be dangerous to your goods and to those people opening the door of the cargo bay, as well as to those unloading it.

                        Avoid Making Columns

A column occurs when you stack packages of the same size more than three high. This invites toppling, and toppling is what you want to avoid.  Of course, the shape of the box matters.  If you’re stacking exercise equipment that is long and flat, you might be able to go five high without a problem, but this situation is rarely encountered with household moves. On the other hand, if you have tall, narrow boxes (such as lamp boxes), you wouldn’t want to stack them even two high.

                        Tie Your Packages

“Tie” your packages to avoid making columns.  This is absolutely necessary.  Tying is where you offset your packages so that the middle of one box spans (is over the edges of) the two boxes below it. You want to continue this pattern across the truck and all the way to the top. Think of making a ‘T” with the edges of your boxes. If the sides of three or more boxes line up from top to bottom, you have a column, and you’re inviting disaster, seriously. So don’t stack boxes of the same size more than three high.

                        Securing Your Walls

You should secure each wall to keep its packages from shifting.  You can use different methods of securing your walls. You can use rope and tie it across the wall using the side rails as tie-off points.  You can use an “X’ pattern in addition to tying straight lines across the truck for each wall as you complete it. You can also use cargo poles or cargo nets to secure each wall, but these tend to be prohibitively expensive.

When used properly (make certain they are tight), they can be excellent for the situation in which you don’t quite fill the truck, leaving empty space at the back, and you need to secure the load to keep it from falling into the empty space.  And in this case, you only need to buy a few poles or one cargo net, but still use rope to tie off the last wall, and make certain that the poles or net are tight against the packages of your wall.

Some people and even professional movers like to separate walls with mattresses and box springs, but this can be very tricky as they leave a lot of space around the top and sides for packages to shift and topple. Mattresses are probably best placed along the sides of the cargo bay where they can also serve as buffers between pianos and packages or other items. 

In the end, each household can bring unique challenges to whomever is doing the packing and loading, so you have to use your own judgement at times. But make certain that each box is well packed so that it won’t crumple under the weight of boxes above it.