Sacramento Movers Explain How To Determine What Size Truck You Need

So you have decided to do a self-move and need to determine what size of rental truck to get. Truck rental companies such as U-Haul, Budget and Enterprise often offer several different sizes to choose from including cargo vans, 10 foot trucks and 24 foot trucks as well as trailers and even pods. Ultimately you will want to choose a truck that will fit all of your belongings however not too big as you don’t want to spend more than you need to on renting a bigger truck.

(Photo Credit: Catskill)

Truck rental companies may offer their own breakdown of how much should fit in a moving truck. The cubic feet of the items to be moved is the determining factor for the truck size. But how do you know how many cubic feet your items add up to? Don’t grab the measuring stick yet! Just use the number of rooms as a guide. See the chart below.

Number of Rooms	Cubic Feet	Truck Size
Small number of items	150	10’
1-2	300	12’
2	450	14’
3	600	16’
3-4	850	18’
4-5	1000	20-22’’
5+	1,200	24’-26’

Even this chart may seem a little vague to you. If you have four rooms how will you know if you need an 18 foot truck or a 22 foot truck? This is when it’s important to take a survey of your belongings. Do you have especially large or oddly shaped items such as a pool table or workout equipment? Did you overlook any times not counted in your rooms such as patio furniture or a storage shed? If in doubt, plan for extra space.

Additionally some rental companies only carry a few standard sizes such as a 10 foot, 16 foot, 20 foot and a 26 foot. If this is the case, figure out what size truck you need on the calculator above and choose the next bigger size when selecting a rental truck.

If you are going a long distance it is especially important to have a large enough truck as it will not be possible to go back for a second load. Also diesel fuel is cheaper than gasoline so you can actually save money by using a larger truck fueled by diesel.

TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® Sacramento employs a staff of over 40 Full-Time Movers and Drivers, with a fleet of 10 trucks. We have performed home and business moving services in and around the Greater Sacramento area for almost 10 years. Our award winning services include full service moving and packing services and we also sells boxes and packing supplies.

With comments or questions contact Carolyn Durkee, Marketing Coordinator at the Sacramento office of TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® at 916-852-7411 or contact us here.