If you own a pickup truck, you may decide to transport your items in it when moving to a new home. Or a friend – or a relative – may ask you to help them move.
And even if you don’t own a pickup truck, you may choose to rent or borrow one for your next move – especially if you’re moving locally, moving without furniture, or moving just a small load.
Either way, in order to ensure a safe and smooth relocation, you need to know how to pack a pickup truck for moving the right way – so you can fit as many items as possible in the truck bed and ensure that they don’t shift and bump against one another during transit (or fly away during sharp turns or sudden braking). You also need to know how to load the truck safely, so you don’t get hurt or cause damage to your items or to your vehicle in the process.
Fortunately, loading a pickup truck for moving is not an overly difficult task – with proper preparation and a little help you can manage quite alright.
Here is how to load a pickup truck in a safe and efficient manner:
Check the weather
First things first, you need to check the weather forecast for the day of the move.
Pickup trucks have open beds, so if it’s raining or snowing while you’re transporting your items to your new location, they will get soaked and may sustain severe water damage.
You can cover the cargo with plastic tarps, of course, but water may still pool into the truck bed and damage sensitive items. Besides, tarps can slip or get blown away as you drive.
Therefore, you’re advised to check the weather forecast in advance and schedule the move for a day when it’s less likely to rain or snow.
Related: Tips for moving in the rain; Tips for moving in the snow
Check the payload limits of your pickup truck
Next, you need to make sure that your truck can safely handle the weight you intend to transport.
Check the rim of the driver’s door for a factory sticker that lists your truck’s GVWR (gross vehicle weight rating). If there is no sticker on the door, check the owner’s manual or look online to find your vehicle’s GVWR.
Subtract the truck’s weight (also printed in the owner’s manual) from the GVWR to find out the payload capacity of your vehicle – the maximum weight your truck can safely carry (including the driver and passengers).
When loading your pickup truck, be sure not to exceed the payload limits – otherwise, you could seriously damage your vehicle.
(This means that if you’re moving a lot of things – or several very heavy items – you may need to make multiple trips.)
Get auxiliary moving equipment
To make the loading process safer, faster, and easier, you’re advised to invest in specialized moving equipment:
- A set of metal ramps – Attach the ramps to the truck bed and lower them to the ground to create an inclined loading ramp that will allow you to easily load items into the bed of the truck;
- A moving dolly – Load heavier items (or stacks of boxes) on the moving dolly, so you can easily roll them out of the home, to the pickup truck, and up the loading ramp into the truck bed;
- Furniture lifting straps – Use the lifting straps to safely and easily lift heavy items, carry them to the moving vehicle, and load them onto the truck bed;
- Ratchet straps – Secure the items into the truck bed with ratchet straps for moving;
- Cargo net – Use a truck bed cargo net to keep items secured in place;
- Cargo covers or tarps – Place tarps (or specialized cargo covers) over boxes and items for added security and protection from the elements.
You may also need tie-down anchors (to secure items to the truck bed floor) and bed extenders (to increase the load capacity of your truck – bed extenders will provide the support necessary to keep the load from falling out, so you can leave the tailgate down).
See also: Moving equipment you need for a self-move
Prepare the items
To maximize the available space and reduce the risk of damage to your belongings while transporting them in the open-bed truck, you need to properly prepare the items for the trip:
- Wrap fragile items in packing paper and bubble wrap;
- Pack everything that fits into a box in boxes. Make sure the boxes are securely sealed – so they don’t get accidentally open during transport and your items don’t fly out of the truck. A tight seal will also prevent dust, dirt, and debris from getting to your belongings;
- Pack more delicate items in plastic bins (the plastic containers will provide protection against the elements). Make sure the lids are tightly closed;
- Wrap larger items in moving blankets and plastic wrap;
- Disassemble larger furniture to make them safer and easier to move. Wrap each piece in moving blankets and plastic wrap.
See also: Packing tips for moving
Prepare the truck
Before you start loading your pickup truck for moving, you need to prepare the vehicle as well:
- Add air pressure to the tires – When you load the truck, the tires may begin to bulge under the extra weight. This is dangerous as it could lead to decreased handling and steering capacity at high speeds and, thus, an increased risk of accidents. To compensate for the extra weight, you’re advised to add air pressure to the tires before loading the truck. Estimate the approximate weight of the cargo and check the owner’s manual to find out how much air pressure to add.
- Protect the truck bed with a liner – A quality liner will prevent scratches, scrapes, and dings to the truck bed and will provide extra padding for your items. If you don’t want to spend money on a specialized truck bed liner, at least lay a tarp – or some old blankets – on the floor of the truck bed before you start loading the vehicle.
Pack the cargo bed properly
When everything is ready and the time comes to actually load the pickup truck, you’re advised to:
- Load the heaviest items (furniture, appliances, etc.) first and position them near the cab – this will make driving easier and will help prevent damage to the suspension and drivetrain;
- Make sure the weight is evenly distributed on both sides of the truck – so the load is balanced and the vehicle is easier and safer to drive;
- Place longer items along the sides of the truck;
- Load boxes in the middle – between the larger items in the front and the longer items on the sides of the truck. Place lighter boxes on top of heavier ones and avoid stacking the boxes too high;
- Pack lighter items toward the back of the truck;
- Pack items tight to optimize the space and prevent shifting during transit.
Bonus tip: Transport sensitive items and highly valuable items in the cab.
Strap everything down tight
When transporting goods in an open-bed truck, it’s crucial to strap everything down as securely as possible – you don’t want things flying off the truck during transport. (Needless to say, you don’t want things sliding around in the truck and bumping against one another either.)
So, how to secure items in a truck bed?
Use ratchet straps to tie everything down tightly (make sure the straps are securely connected to the rails or to the tie-down anchors in your truck bed). Secure items as you load to make sure there are no loose objects in the truck.
Good to know: A cargo net can also be used to secure the load in a pickup truck – it works great for securing boxes and smaller items.
Cover the load
Once you’ve packed the truck, cover the load with a tarp or weatherproof covering to protect the items from dust, dirt, road debris, and inclement weather.
Knowing how to load a pickup truck for moving correctly will save you a lot of time and effort on moving day – more importantly, though, it will make things much safer. The risk of damage to your items during loading and transportation will be much smaller, the risk of personal injuries will be minimal, and the risk of accidents on the road will be greatly reduced as well. Have a safe and smooth move!
