Making the most of your space

There are several reasons why you may need to hire a van, however, the majority involve the moving of a number of large goods. Whether you are relocating offices or moving house, Easihire Wigan are here to lend a hand with some hints & tips we have picked up over the years.

What size van will I need?

First of all, you’ll need to decide on the size of van you require, think about your load carefully. We would always recommend using a larger van than you initially think if you are unsure of the exact number of items you will be transporting, as this will reduce your journey time and the amount of trips you may need to do. This will also make it easier for you to save space and not have to worry will you fit everything in the van.

Organising your load will allow you to make the most of the space you have in the vehicle, but it will also let you take your journey knowing that your goods are safe & secure. You should also be aware that while you do sometimes see people driving with items hanging out of the rear end of your vehicle, it is actually illegal, so this is another good reason to maybe book the larger van. If you find yourself reaching a point like this, you should unload excess items from your vehicle until the doors close securely. This will allow you to avoid receiving a charge for dangerous driving.

Loading your van

There are many ways people would load their vehicle, but let’s look into the best ways to load your van and save space. Get all of your goods in one location, for example, if it’s a house move, try and get most of your items into the largest room in your current house, or if it is an office move, get everything in to one part of the office. This will allow you to see them easily all in one place and asses how many trips you will need to do. You can then split them in to different groups, such as kitchen, living room, bathroom, fragile items, clothes e.t.c.

There are some health & safety procedures that you can follow whilst loading the van to avoid any strains or accidents, firstly ensure that you have ample space for loading the vehicle from where the items are located, For example if you have a drive way, it would be advisable to reverse the vehicle to the front door for ease of access, also ensure that the floor is free of anything that you could slip or trip on while loading the vehicle. It’s essential that you follow good manual handling of heavy goods when moving the heavier white goods, at Easihire Wigan we offer things like hand trucks to make light work of heavier loads, please ask at the rental desk for prices and availability.

Once you have organised all of your items for moving, you need to pack your van in the most space efficient way, bring those of a larger size to the van and begin loading them. Make sure to stack them right up against the cabin of the van – this will ensure that the weight is evenly distributed while you are travelling. It can be a bit like a game of tetris to pack sparingly leaving you as much space as possible. For items that are stacked closely together, you could use padding or even some soft furnishings to stop expensive items getting damaged or scratched during your trip.

Once you have loaded the bigger items, its better to find the long or narrow items, such as mirrors, folded down tables, sofa cushions or mattresses. Load these on their sides against the side walls of your van’s loading space, stopping  them from taking up valuable space.

When it comes to soft furnishings, instead of folding them up, see if there are other items which could be wrapped with them, that will save space by packing two things in one.

When it comes to loading your boxes, make sure to use any spare space, such as the space under chairs or tables. As you have no rear window you can stack to the top of the vehicle without obstructing your view, you can also afford to pile the boxes up to the top of the van. This space is often forgotten about as it can be difficult to reach but it can mean the difference between a single trip and multiple ones. If you have a luton van, you can also make use of the space above the drivers cab, again it’s a space that can sometimes be forgotten about, but makes all the difference.

The space that is left can be perfect for those fragile items, going back to your game of Tetris, load these in tight spaces left between your household items, ensuring that they won’t be moving around in the back of the van while on the road. Also – remember, the passenger footwells in the cabin can be ideal for those fragile items that will have pride of place in your new home.