Packing a moving truck
can be almost as overwhelming as moving itself,
and arranging your furniture in a way that maximizes your space and minimizes
damage is a tricky endeavor. But if you know how to pack a moving truck the
right way, then the task will be easy and even fun. Follow these steps to find
out how to do it after you have an available Budget Truck Rental
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1Gather materials. To pack your truck in the safest and most
efficient way possible, you'll need a few extra items to help you move your
heaviest items and to protect your most delicate belongings. You can get these
supplies from a moving supply store or a hardware store. Here's what you'll
need:
ü
A dolly. This will
help you move your heaviest furniture as well as your boxes.
ü
Paper padding, plastic
stretch wrap, or furniture pads. This will help keep your furniture free from
damage.
ü
Packing tape. This
will hold the padding over your furniture together.
ü
Straps. These will
help your furniture stay together and will keep it from shifting.
ü
A large tarp or
plastic wrap. This should cover the floor of the truck to keep your furniture
from getting dirty.
2Prepare the cab. You should put the items you really need in
the cab so you don't forget about them and end up packing them up in the back
of the truck. You'll need to bring a toolkit so you can reassemble your
furniture as soon as you need to, overnight items so you don't have to search
for them, as well as the most fragile items that you don't want to put in the
truck.
ü If you or someone who is helping you is also
driving a car to your new home, you can also give your fragile items to that
person.
ü Fragile items include valuable plates,
anything made of glass, and even light bulbs from disassembled lamps.
ü Your overnight items should include enough for
you to live with for a day without having to unpack. This will help you avoid
an annoying situation where you've packed away your deodorant and have to buy a
new one because you can't find it.
ü Put your computer and small electronic items,
or even a television, in the cab, if they will fit. You can add these items
later during the packing process.
3Disassemble your furniture. This will help make your furniture easier to
pack and light enough to carry. Before your furniture leaves your house, it
should be taken apart into manageable pieces. Not everything can be taken
apart, of course, but taking apart a few key items will make moving much
easier.Here's what you can do:[1]
ü Remove the cushions from your sofas.
ü Take apart your bed and your bed frames. Tape
your bed frames together.
ü Take the bulbs out of your lamps and place
them in a separate container or bag. The last thing you want is for glass to
get crushed all over your truck.
ü If you have heavy dressers, take the drawers
out and carry them to the truck individually. When you load the dresser back
into the truck, you can put the drawers back in and even tape them shut.
ü Filing cabinets can be the heaviest item of
all. Take out your drawers and carry them to the truck separately before you
put them back in.
ü If you remove any screws or hardware from the
furniture, put it in a bag and tape it to the furniture, or put a note in the
bag that clearly says which piece of furniture it's from.
ü Take apart your bed rails or table legs, and
roll them into large rugs or carpets.
Pack
books and bookcases to make the most of the space. If you have a lot of books,
and a lot of bookcases, go out and get specific boxes that will fit on the bookcases. That is a lot
of wasted space otherwise, and regular boxes are usually too wide and too tall
to fit on bookshelves. You can pack some books on the bookcases, but you must
have a way to keep them from coming off the shelves. On higher shelves, it
would be better to pack lighter items in the boxes. Since books are very heavy,
even the standard U-Haul "small" box is too heavy for many people to
carry. Smaller boxes of books will allow less strong people to carry the books.
ü You can get small and odd-sized boxes at local
companies that recycle them from industry. All you'll need is the specific
measurements of the shelves you wish to populate
ü The smaller boxes will also help you with the
chaos of moving. After packing the boxes, they can be put on the shelves until
you move; after you arrive at your new location, they can sit on the shelves
until you are ready to pack them.
4Pack books and bookcases to make the most of
the space. If you have a lot of
books, and a lot of bookcases, go out and get specific boxes that will fit on the bookcases. That is a lot of wasted space otherwise, and
regular boxes are usually too wide and too tall to fit on bookshelves. You can
pack some books on the bookcases, but you must have a way to keep them from
coming off the shelves. On higher shelves, it would be better to pack lighter
items in the boxes. Since books are very heavy, even the standard U-Haul
"small" box is too heavy for many people to carry. Smaller boxes of
books will allow less strong people to carry the books.
ü You can get small and odd-sized boxes at local
companies that recycle them from industry. All you'll need is the specific
measurements of the shelves you wish to populate
ü The smaller boxes will also help you with the
chaos of moving. After packing the boxes, they can be put on the shelves until
you move; after you arrive at your new location, they can sit on the shelves
until you are ready to pack them.
5Move all of your furniture out in front of the
truck. Moving as much of your
furniture out into the street as you can will help you see how much you're
working with, and will make it easier for you to see which items are the
heaviest.
ü Only do this if you don't annoy your neighbors
or end up taking up too much space.
ü You can also load right from your house into
the truck, but you'll have to keep out an eye for which items should go in
first (heaviest to lightest).
ü Make sure you have a clear path between your
home and the truck.
