A moving truck rental can be very pricey if you treat it like an impulse shopping and go for the first rental company you come across. Even if the initial cost may look small, only think what happens in case of an accident, if the truck insurance doesn’t provide adequate coverage for that particular situation. Here are some basic tips to keep you away from many problems.

Not all truck rentals are the same: get multiple quotes

Moving house is most of the times an action which we plan long enough in advance as to be able to allow enough time for proper market research. Helping people relocate is a profitable and flourishing business, so chances are that wherever you may live, you’d still have at least three or four companies to choose from. Don’t shy from asking all of them for quotes. Just don’t forget to prepare your lesson well and have a thorough checklist when you call them.

Here’s a minimum of what your list could include:

• Approximate size of the truck: if you don’t know how to estimate that, you can simply make a list of all big furniture items you need to have moved, then think to double that space, because furniture usually has stuff in it, which has to be transported separately, in boxes. That would take a lot of space, you can be sure of that.
• Truck driver needed or not: if you can drive the truck by yourself, don’t forget to mention that. However, if you don’t have that type of driving license, you’ll need to rent the truck together with the driver.
• Additional staff needed or not: if you’re a tiny, fragile, human being, most probably you won’t be able to move your furniture at all, not to mention loading it into the truck. Actually, nobody could do that as a one man show, so if you don’t have a team of solid friends and neighbors to help you, you could find it better to rent also the people from the truck rentals company, as you could get a better deal than if you did it separately.

Truck rentals are more popular than you think

Don’t underestimate the number of people who need to hire trucks to get moved. About 1 in 6 Americans move each year, which means over 42 million people (U.S. Census Bureau). The same source states that the average American moves 11.7 times in a lifetime. Under these circumstances, and taking into account that most people would probably try to move in spring or in fall in order to avoid extreme temperatures, and that they’d rather move over the weekend than taking a day off their job, you’ll see that the earlier you make your truck reservation, the better. With all these considerations in mind, you'd also want to estimate as accurately as possible the period of time you need the truck for. Maybe you won't be able to find a full day truck rental at your desired date, but if half day could be enough for you to finish the task, then your chances could be bigger to find a rental company as smart as to couple two clients for one day and make money as if they'd had given it to only one customer for the whole day's time.

Besides, why pay for a whole day when you're going to finish earlier anyway? You could always do something else with the money difference, couldn't you?

Don’t rent a moving truck without insurance

If the truck comes with a driver, you probably don’t have to worry about accidents, because they would be the driver’s fault, not yours. However, if you’re going to drive the truck yourself, be very careful and read the insurance policy terms with the eyes wide open, otherwise you risk to get burnt and take lots of money out of your pocket in case you damage the truck. Moreover, you have to think also at the situation in which your truck is fine, but you scratch a street-full of parked cars. Those owners would probably need to have their repairs covered by you and if you don’t have insurance, your move is going to cost you a hell lot of money. Make sure to understand all terms of the rental agreement, because if you break them, your insurance policy may become void.

When you rent a car, not necessarily a moving truck, the agreement usually states that you have to return the car in the same condition as it was when you took it. This is why the truck’s condition has to be very well documented before you take it from the rental company’s parking. If you spot any minor damages to the truck body, make sure to write them down and eventually take some pictures and attach them to the rental agreement.

Most of the times, a moving truck rental is just an ordinary thing, but you need to make sure you’re preparing for the worst while expecting the best. Happy moving!