Planning a Casual Corporate Event

Posted on: 9 July 2015

The average cost of a move between states ranges between $5,630 and $12,459 depending on who's crunching the numbers, but luckily, there are a range of ways to save money including renting a smaller truck. In order to successfully get your stuff into the smallest truck possible, you need to pack your truck tightly and strategically. Here are five essential tips to help you get a tight fit:

1. Push the largest, heaviest items to the back of the truck

The first items you put on your moving truck should be the largest and the heaviest. Place your washing machines and other large appliances next to the back wall of the truck. Loading these items first helps keep your load stable, and it creates a nice base upon which you can stack other items.

2. Use uniform-sized boxes

While it's fine to have a few oddly shaped items in a range of box sizes and shapes, most of your boxes should be the same size and shape. Having uniform boxes makes it easier to pack them in virtual brick walls. This approach means you fill up your truck more efficiently and with fewer empty spaces.

Ideally, you should use moving boxes, but if you are decide to scrounge up boxes from free sources, that's fine as long as they are relatively uniform. For example, using all peach boxes from the grocery store or exclusively embracing medium-sized boxes from a book store works fine, but using all different size boxes from a liquor store won't be as effective.

3. Never leave empty spaces

While packing the truck and while preparing to pack the truck, do not leave any empty spaces. While packing, fill your dresser drawers; put blankets, hoses and bagged hardware in the cavity of your washing machine; and fill armoires or cabinets with linens, blankets, pillows or other relatively lightweight items – unfortunately, books, pots and pans, and other heavy items can make an armoire impossible to lift.

While loading stuff onto the truck, also take care not to leave empty spaces. Pack on top of, next to and under every object possible – for example, if you don't dismantle your table, make sure the area underneath it is full.

4. Make a pile of space fillers

Even if you are fully committed to using uniform boxes, you will have a few odd-shaped items. These items range from small boxes to garbage bags filled with blankets. As you load the truck, make a pile of these items just to the side of the truck.

Then, when you have a random blank spot, you can easily reach for one of these items and place it there. Filled garbage bags are especially useful for this project as they can be molded into convenient shapes and wedged into all kinds of nooks and crannies.

5. Get two packing perspectives

Packing a moving truck is like putting together a tricky puzzle that may have more than one answer. Unfortunately, when you're holding a heavy box or a shelf, it can be hard to immediately see the most space effective place to put that item.

To make it easier, try to get two perspectives as you pack the truck. Once you have loaded the heaviest items that take two people to lift, one person should carry items to the truck while the other person stays in the truck putting items into place.

The person in the truck gets a close up view of the stacked items while the person bringing stuff to the truck has a more wide angled perspective. Together, those two angles make it easier to accomplish a perfectly tight packing job.  

Now that you know how to pack your belongings efficiently, you are ready to rent a truck. Check out sites like http://www.elitetruckrental.com to find the right truck for your move.