Choosing The Correct Van Rental For You

A friend came to me for advice the other day on what sort of van rental he would need for a quick job and the advice I gave him I decided to just put up as well for other people to read through. We have all seen the comedy pictures of over loaded cars with goats and sheep everywhere and the back of the car scraping the floor….

It is amazingly hilarious but there is a serious side as well, It is ridiculously dangerous to overload cars and vans and they all have weight limits and tow limits for a reason, to ignore them is reckless and don’t be surprised if you end up getting points on your licence as well.

The main things to remember when going into the van rental place are;

• The distance
• Weight and size of the things you will be moving
• Driving ability and licence limitations
• The amount of time you will need the van for

The Distance

If you are going to be moving house and you are moving just a few miles, it might be easier and cheaper to get a smaller van and take a couple trips. A small van will generally be easier to drive and park at both locations so if you have the option of doing the move over a couple of trips this could be ideal. Alternatively if you are moving from London to Glasgow you will need to move everything you own in one trip so you will need to look for the biggest van you can legally drive.

Volume Of Goods

This sounds like a quite obvious point but there are a few things to be aware of. If the van is 8 metres long and you have a carpet that is 8 metres long chances are it will not fit. You need to find out the actual load space with all doors shut and don’t try to make something fit if it is just a bit too big, you might break something!

Driving Ability and Licence Limitations

This is very important because with licences issued at different times you also, confusingly, get different limitations on what you are allowed to drive. It is all a bit complicated and would take ages for me to explain so the best thing to do would be to get your driving licence out and go the the Government site where it will tell you everything you need to know about what you are entitled to drive. Also just because you may legally be allowed to drive something it doesn’t mean you should just jump in the driving seat, if you have driven nothing but tiny supermini’s getting into a big truck will be a shock so find someone with experience to help show you the ropes.

Time Frame

If you think you can be done in one day, try and keep within this time frame because you will be charged if you return the hire vehicle late. It would probably be easier to be generous with time when working it out. You think one part of the journey will take an hour? Give it two hours just in case.

I hope this has helped you about choosing the correct van rental, I might do a quick guide on car hire at some point in the future as well so keep checking back!