5 Steps to Pack Your Moving Truck | Elite Truck Rental

Few people enjoy moving day, so you probably don’t want to spend any more time at it than you have to. One of the best ways to ensure a safe, stress-free, and short day filling your moving truck is to know how to pack it.

To help you use that rented truck as well as possible, here are 5 steps to success.

1. Organize a Party

Want to make a project go faster? Get plenty of help with it. Moving is no different, so start recruiting your friends and family as soon as possible. Make it a fun day with snacks, drinks, and maybe even a few games.

When you invite friends to help you move, be a good host. Your friends are taking their time out to help you, so be prepared. Have lots of supplies on hand and complete as much as you can before they arrive. Create a list of things that still need to be done and assignments so you can organize your helpers efficiently and get everyone home on time.

2. Develop a Plan

Once the vast majority of your belongings are packed up, start working on your packing game plan. Walk through your home, noting the sizes and weights of furniture and boxes. Keep a count of different box sizes. This will help you rent the correct size of truck. You can also start thinking about the best order to remove and pack items.

Generally, large and heavy pieces should go into the truck first — partly to keep the truck well-balanced and partly to secure everything. Remember that you aren’t obligated to pack most furniture in the correct direction. Use any angle that will save space. Keep soft or small items out for filling empty spaces as you go.

3. Create a Staging Area

Create a designated staging area as close to the truck as possible. Ideally, this area should be visible without getting out of the truck. Assign a few members of your moving party to stay in the truck as the primary packers. It’s great if you have experienced packers to oversee the truck, but you can also use logical and decisive people. Discuss your packing plan with everyone before you start.

A few more friends should be in the staging area and bring the packers specific pieces as needed. The rest can move items from the house into the staging area.

4. Disassemble and Fill

One key to saving space is to try to disassemble all the larger items possible. Look for ways to take furniture apart, such as removing legs from tables, disassembling bed frames, and collapsing bookshelves. Separate pieces in things like sectionals, cushions, and bed sets. Be careful to tape all hardware or parts together to the unit in question so that you can get the units reassembled at your new home.

What you can’t take apart, try to fill. Look for empty spaces in things like dressers and desks, cabinets, or even unplugged appliances (especially the washer and dryer). Filling these areas with light items won’t add much weight but will save a lot of space.

5. Secure Items

Don’t forget to secure the stuff you put inside the truck as you go. Moving trucks generally have places to tie down straps and rope, so make use of these. Test the stability of everything more than once before you move on to the next layer toward the back of the truck. Leave particularly fragile items for last or plan to transport these in a passenger vehicle. This will help you move quickly and avoid having to stop to re-secure anything.

Are you ready to start working on your efficient moving day plan? Start by visiting the moving pros at Elite Truck Rental in Chicago. We can help with everything from formulating a packing plan to finding the right supplies to keep everything safe.