Besides making sure you get everything neatly inside the truck, you also want to pack it in a way that will protect your items and give them their best chance at arriving at their destination without any damages.
We’ve put together an easy guide to safely packing a moving truck with tips and tricks that will make the process go much smoother and keep your belongings safe along the way.
How to Safely Pack a Moving Truck
Get the Right Supplies
Every part of the moving process goes much smoother when you have the right supplies at your disposal. When it comes to packing a moving truck, we recommend the following items to help you protect your belongings and transfer them safely:
Dolly – A dolly is great for transporting large, heavy items from your house to the truck quickly and easily. You can even roll it up the ramp into the truck.
Plastic Wrap and Blankets – Plastic wrap and blankets are musts to keep your furniture safe from dirt, rips, and damage.
Packing Tape – Packing tape works better than duct tape on cardboard and plastic. It will also help secure the padding to your furniture.
Straps, Ties or Rope – Some items are likely to move around during the journey, so have these supplies on hand to secure anything that could shift once the truck gets moving or hits a bump.
Tarp, Blankets or Plastic Wrap – You can line the floor of the truck with one of these items to keep the bottom of your furniture safe from dirt and damages caused by the rough surface. (We’ve outfitted all our Megan’s Moving trucks with carpet flooring to protect your belongings.)
Protect Your Furniture
As we mentioned in the supplies section, certain supplies are highly recommended to keep your furniture safe. We always wrap furniture in plastic wrap and blankets to protect them from the inevitable bumps along the way. It is so easy for furniture to be torn and dirtied during a move, so put in the extra effort to protect it as much as possible. You’ll be glad you did.
Invest in Moving Boxes
Boxes made specifically for moving have a lot of benefits. Not only are they a lot sturdier than boxes you’ll find for free at grocery stores and the like, but they are also made to be perfectly uniform so they can stack easily. It is much easier to pack a truck when the boxes are made the same way.
Largest Items Go First
Put your largest items – appliances, sofas, beds, bookcases, etc – into the truck first with the appliances at the back (which should also always be kept in their upright positions). Then, put all the heavy boxes on the bottom and stack the lighter ones on top of them. Use straps to hold in anything that could shift once the truck starts moving. Don’t take anything for granted; if there is any gap whatsoever, you should assume things will slip and bang against something else.
Distribute Weight Evenly
Pay close attention to how you are dividing the weight in the truck. If all the heavy items are on one side, then the tires on that side will be under too much strain and the truck could be at risk for toppling over when you take a corner or swerve just enough to shift it. Distribute everything evenly to avoid these issues.
Disassemble What You Can
Any large furniture you have that can be disassembled should be to make it fit into the truck more efficiently. Removing the legs from a table, for example, will make packing it into the truck much simpler. It can then go into the truck on its side and give you plenty of room to stack things around it without the legs being at risk for damages.
Take a Moment to Plan
Take inventory of everything you have that needs to go into the truck and devise a plan before you start loading it. This will allow you to trial and error before you do the work, so you have an idea of what you are working with and what will and won’t work. You’ll likely still have to change a few things around once you start loading everything in, but you’ll be way ahead of the game.
All our movers receive special training to know how to pack a truck as safe and efficiently as possible. We also have specially designed our trucks with padded walls and carpeted floors for extra protection. Click here to learn more about our moving services.