What to do before renting a moving truck: The inspection
When you first pick up your moving van from the truck rental facility, you’ll need to inspect it all over for existing body damage and then make sure that any defects are noted on the rental agreement.
- Look between the double back wheels to see that nothing is stuck between them that could cause the flattening of these tires once you’re rolling.
- Move the truck enough to thoroughly inspect every tire for nails or screws stuck into the tire. Trucks are constantly taken into commercial areas and back alleys and they have a propensity to pick up screws and nails from those places. Also, check the sidewalls of each tire for cuts that could cause a blowout.
- Open the cargo area and be sure it is clean and swept and all rails inside are secure against the walls of the truck so that you can tie off your load’s tiers.
- Make sure that the latch works and can be locked with your padlock.
- Look under the hood with the truck rental company personnel and check the oil, transmission fluid (if it’s an automatic), radiator fluid, brake fluid, power steering fluid, and windshield wiper fluid.
- Look on the ground underneath the engine area to see if any fluids are leaking.
- Next, carefully get into the cab from both sides of the truck and make sure all handholds are tight and that both doors can be opened from the inside and the outside. Make sure both windows roll up and down also. These are all safety escapes in case of an accident.
- Have the rental people show you how to work all switches and levers. Be sure the emergency brake works well and is not at its end point. Be sure there
is a fire extinguisher and reflector triangles or flares on board. - Check the horn and the emergency flashers.
- Turn on the headlights and check that they both work – high and low beam.
- Check all 4 turn signals and the backup lights, tail lights, and brake lights.
- Be sure there
is a license plate present and a light over it.
How to drive a rental moving truck
- If you must play the radio while you drive, play it low so as not to drown out street sounds.
- When you first begin to drive the truck, make sure that its automatic transmission shifts properly from gear to gear.
- If you’re driving a stick shift truck make sure all gears can be shifted smoothly and that the final grab of the clutch is not at the very top of the pedal’s range. If it is, turn around and go back to the facility for a clutch adjustment or a change of truck.
- When driving drive slowly in order to get used to the truck’s handling.
- Always keep a big interval between you and the vehicle ahead of you so that you have plenty of room to make an emergency stop. When the truck is loaded, leave even more of an interval because a heavily loaded truck needs even more room to stop quickly.
- When making turns, swing wide so you don’t side swipe something or someone.
Also watch that your backend doesn’t hit something during the swing. - When backing up, always have a spotter behind you in your line of vision in your mirrors and with your windows open to hear him. Never backup alone but if you must do so, first stop your truck, set the emergency brake securely, get out and walk around the vehicle to size up the situation. Then, immediately get back in while watching for traffic around you and slowly back the truck up. If you’re alone, you may have to do this a couple of times for safety’s sake.
- Remember, you do not want to have a truck accident. Sometimes a small vehicle will scoot into your blind spot right behind you unnoticed. This is a certain backup accident about to happen. So, if you’re backing up without a spotter, right after your walk behind the truck as your going to the cab door keep your eye out for this.
As you can see, renting and driving a moving truck is hard work filled with numerous dangers and risks. To know that the whole DIY moving experience will be worth it, get moving cost estimates from professional moving companies in your area and compare the costs and conditions.
