Renting a truck that is too small means a second trip. Hiring a crew whose truck is too small is the mover's problem, not yours, because the estimator sizes the load before the day. Either way, the sizing starts with the same thing: an honest count of what you own.
Think in volume and in weight
Volume decides whether the load fits. Weight decides how a long-distance move is priced. A shipment of books and a shipment of curtains can fill the same truck and weigh very differently. Long-distance moves through the Bekins network are priced by weight, so a careful survey matters more than a guess at truck length.
A wooden vault of 245 cubic feet gives you a unit to count. Picture a vault filled to the top: a few boxes and a chair, or a dresser, a mattress set and a pile of boxes. A household that fills many vaults needs a large truck; one that fills a few might share a truck with another shipment.
Walk through the home, room by room
- Living room: sofas, chairs, tables, TV and stand, shelves and the contents of every shelf.
- Bedrooms: beds and mattresses, dressers, nightstands, closets and what hangs in them.
- Kitchen and dining: the table and chairs, and the contents of every cabinet.
- Garage, attic and shed: the rooms households forget, and often the heaviest.
- Outdoors: patio sets, grills, planters, tools and playsets.
- Large items: piano, pool table, hot tub, safe, treadmill. Each one changes how the load is built.
Let the estimator do the sizing
An O'Brien's estimator walks the home, counts the furniture and the boxes you expect to pack, and writes an itemized written estimate. That visit is where the truck, the crew size and the days are decided. Because it is free and carries no obligation, it is also the cheapest way to avoid a wrong guess. See how our estimates work.
If you rent a truck yourself
Rental companies publish capacity guides for each truck, and those are written for average homes. Add a margin for the garage and for anything you plan to buy before the move. If the load does not fit, the unplanned second trip costs more time than a larger truck would have.
Another option is to hire a crew to load and unload a rental truck, trailer or PODS container that you drive; loading and unloading help explains it. The load planner gives a first look at how much space you need.
Heavy and awkward items
Count a piano, a pool table or a hot tub on their own line. They take floor space, need straps or a ramp, and can set the order in which the truck is loaded. Tell the estimator at the start so the crew arrives with the right gear.