Planning a move is more than just packing up the truck rental on the day of the move. You'll need to book the truck rental at least one month prior to your move and order your packing supplies at the same time.
Planning your move takes time. It's more than placing your boxes in the truck rental on the day of the move, turning on the ignition, and driving off to your new home. It takes weeks of proper planning and strategizing for your big move. In fact, it should start no later than a month prior to the big day. To help you with this process, we've listed some of the key items that should be addressed one month prior to packing up the truck rental.
Choosing a truck rental company
Don't wait to the last minute to rent a truck rental. If you do, you might find yourself without a vehicle, especially in the high season (summer) or during the weekend. Surf the web or skim the Yellow Pages to find names of truck rental companies. Choose three or four names and call them up for prices, and ask for at least a couple of references. Make sure that they have the truck size you need with amenities you want (i.e. air conditioning, automatic transmission). Don't forget to inquire about the extra fees such as insurance or extra mileage charges. In addition, find out if they rent out dollies, flatbeds and heavy-duty straps to help secure your furniture in the vehicle.
Buying the packing supplies
Once you've chosen the truck rental company, the next big piece of the puzzle is buying the right packing supplies for your move. Call up some of the local movers and find out their prices for supplies. Inquire about different sized boxes (small, medium and large) and different types of boxes as well, such as wardrobe boxes and dish boxes. As far as how many boxes to order for each type, just as the movers for their recommendations, based upon the number of rooms you need to pack up. You'll need to purchase other packing items as well such as heavy-duty packing tape, bubble-wrap paper and moving pads.
Start asking for volunteers
A do-it-yourself move with a truck rental is much more labor intensive than hiring a full-service moving company. Start asking friends and family members to help you on the day of your move. After all, you don't want to be stuck moving your whole house by yourself.
