Managing a Truck Rental Move by Yourself

If you're on a tight budget, you'll want to consider a do-it-yourself or truck rental move.  As the name suggests, you'll be doing the packing, unpacking, loading and unloading and even the driving of the truck rental.   That might not pose a problem, unless you don't have anyone to assist with you the move.  But even so, don't discount a truck rental move if you don't have a team of helpers.  It's still possible to choose this type of move if you take the following steps. 

Give yourself enough time

With a truck rental move, the process takes longer than when using a full-service moving company.  That's because you have to take care of everything concerning the move, from a to z.  If you have a team of volunteers, that process can be fairly quick.  But if going it alone, you'll have to start packing much early.  For instance, if you had planned to start packing up your belongings a few days before with a group of friends, now you'll need to start at least two weeks before.   The same holds true for unpacking.  What would usually take a couple of day with friends might take a week or two alone.  And of course the amount of time you'll need to schedule for the actual loading and unloading will need to be much longer if doing it by yourself. 

Load and unload with the proper equipment

Since you'll be loading and unloading the truck rental vehicle by yourself, you'll not only need more time but you'll also need to protect your back more, due to the extra lifting.  Make sure to rent a hand dolly from the truck rental company so that you can move more boxes quicker with less strain on your back.  Use a back brace as well to give you extra support.  Dissemble as much of the furniture as possible and if you have a big couch, you might have to ask your neighbor to help you lift into the truck rental vehicle.  And when unloading, use the hand dolly with your back brace, and for that heavy couch, find a friendly neighbor to assist you.