If you’ve moved only a handful of times (or if this is your first time) you may not know which truck size is right for your move. It’s even more complicated if the company you’re renting from advertises only small, medium, and large sizes that don’t match your exact load size.
While the truck sizes that most companies recommend are helpful guidelines, they aren’t very precise.
Truck sizes that rental companies recommend:
1-room apartment 10-16 ft.
2-room apartment 12-22 ft.
3-room house 16-22 ft.
5-room house 22-26 ft.
As you can see, these ranges aren’t exact and sometimes the sizes overlap. For one thing, there’s no exact square footage linked to any home size, and just because two homes have the same number of rooms does not mean they are the same size or have the same amount of stuff inside.
How to pick the right truck size
The best way to get the perfect truck is to use an online moving calculator to tell you how much cubic space (a.k.a. volume) you’ll need based on how many beds, boxes, or even unicycles you’re moving.
Next, find the cubic footage capacity of each truck size you’re looking at. Most companies provide the exact cubic footage capacity of each of their trucks so you don’t have to do any guesswork or math.
It’s that easy.
What to consider when you’re calculating your move
While you’re using the calculator, it can be helpful to ask yourself the right questions:
How many rooms are you moving? How many of these are bedrooms with mattresses?
How many boxes are you moving? (Check out Home Depot’s box calculator to get an accurate estimate.)
How big is your furniture? Do you have any oversized, bulky, or fragile items that may need special treatment? Our guide to calculating linear feet can help you with this part.
How far are you moving?
Pro tip
Book a truck size that has 10–15% more cubic space than your estimated load to ensure you have enough room.
