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Originally Posted by bendrix  I would be interested in just such a lesson.
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It's one of those things that once you have down, it's kind of a no-brainer. The daily joke was, you want the pack like you want your women -- high and tight. Ha ha! Boy, I tell you, THAT never got old...
This is assuming you have the usual range of the usual stuff. Bed(s), dressers(s), couch, TV, shelf units, a buttload of boxes of varying sizes. (If you just have a few big things and no boxes, simply pad* the nice parts, face them into the wall, and tie them securely to the sides of the truck.) Knowing where everything should go, meaning the order to bring them into the truck, can cut loading time by crazy amounts, not to mention get your shit where it's going in a reasonably safe manner.
*Before you reserve the truck, count your blankets and comforters you don't mind getting a little dirty/dusty. See if they'll cover all the wood surfaces you want to protect from scratches, fronts and tops, and don't overlook wooden kitchen chairs, etc. If you're short, and you like your stuff and wanna keep it nice, spring for the rental place's pad rentals. Or, risk a scratch from a quarter-inch shift (no matter how tight the pack) when you take a corner or jam the brakes.
Essentially, you pack the truck in tiers, each tier being a row of stuff starting up against the cab-side/back of the truck and filling from floor to ceiling. Get a tier filled or as close as you can come before starting the next one. Look at the truck from the side and picture it cut in slices like a block of cheese, starting from the front (against the cab).
First tier or two, very first pieces of furniture to load, are the "base." Any big heavy solid pieces of furniture, usually dressers. Pad them up and face them into the cab. Start in one corner and pack the row. If you can fit all the way across the floor with just base-type furniture, so much the better. The goal here is to keep it tight, no shifting allowed. If necessary, fill empty corners of the first tier with a stack of heavy boxes (below), or a bookshelf or two padded and turned sideways to cheat itself into the second row. Whatever it takes, just pack the base tight.
On top of the base, go the solid non-fragile boxes, usually a layer maybe two. Books usually, albums/DVD/CDs/etc. On top of them maybe another layer of solid boxes, depending on what you have. Or, go with the more fragile (but hopefully well-packed) boxes. Solid with side-to-side pressure, but you don't want anything heavy on top of them -- those boxes.
Usually, that leaves about a foot or two of space between the top layer of boxes and the ceiling. In the first tier, we'd usually start padding (wrapping, practically) and packing kitchen and dining room chairs, on their backs/fronts and overlapping seat-to-seat best as possible. But eventually, as you add more tiers, this is where the schmeg goes. Unofficial*, lovely term for all the odds and ends that are too big for a box but can't handle weight on them. Lamps, tricycles, whatever. Chairs are the usually the most solid, which is why they get the tightest tier up in the front.
*The company I worked for, someone actually included the word on the estimate form.
Hopefully you have as little airspace as possible in the base furniture and boxes, and schmeg as tightly fit as possible. As you add more tiers, almost always they'll get somewhat looser with the schmeg, and lower from the ceiling.
Next tier, just like the first. Some small moves may not have more than one or two tiers. No matter how small your load, though, aim for high and tight. Pull things off and rearrange as necessary. You should be able to get the bulk of the move into these tiers, repeating the pattern of base, boxes, schmeg to the ceiling. You'll probably run out of base furniture before boxes; try to anticipate if you'll need a full tier of just boxes, and maybe hold back some solid boxes to base those on.
Eventually, you'll start planning The Wall. All those tiers you stacked up are going to get walled off. Hopefully you don't have much left except bookshelves (try to reserve them for the last tier(s) as possible), couch, beds, A/V stuff. When it looks like you've stacked your last tier best as possible, move the wall into position.
Bookshelf units first, with their solid backs (not the shelf side) up against the last tier. As before, tightly as possible, filling all the corners. Though you have more wiggle room here. Once all the tall heavy pieces are in, add the boxsprings and mattresses. Boxsprings being more solid, they go in first, yadda yadda. Same with head- and footboards; pad em and fit em in along the wall.
Now before you pile them on, you may want to get one end of the straps or ropes -- oh yeah, make sure you have either canvas straps or good rope -- tied to the side, inside of the truck well behind where the wall ends. This tie is CRUCIAL, and you want it as tight as physically possible.
Get the boxsprings/mattresses on end and up against the bookshelves/tiers. All of these bigger than a twin go nearly to the ceiling, short just a foot or so -- here's where you're locking down your tiers. Make sure there's no loose schmeg ready to tumble over the top of the wall. It's usually fine to just stack the disassembled bedframes upright with the mattresses, inside the tie. Get one strap/rope across about 1/3 up and one about 2/3 up. Trust me when I say the lower tie is the more important one; shit will want to slide low on you more than topple over. Get the untied end secured also further back into the pack than the wall, and yank that fucker as taut as you can and still make a good slip knot.
Now you should have most of your shit packed up high and tight and locked down with a big wall of bed.
I've never seen a couch that didn't fit across the width of a truck. Pad it to protect upholstery if you like, but the couches come next. IMPORTANT! Whenever you move a sleeper sofa -- God Forbid -- ALWAYS TIE IT DOWN BEFORE YOU EVEN LIFT IT. Get a couple feet of rope or strap, and loop it around the front frame and through the bed's handle. Tie that fucker DOWN. TIGHT. It's not just a pain in the ass when it opens on you trying to angle it into a door; it can take your fucking finger off when you shift your grip to shut it again. Tie down your sleeper sofas. Please.
Facing in toward the bed-wall, back to the loading door. Lay any TVs and or microwave ovens (don't forget to remove the oven's dish and pack it separately!) inside the couch, screen/door facing into the couch's back. Pad it and (especially with a TV) put a flat piece of cardboard in front of the screen. (Some couches have buttons that rub through blankets.) Just like a tier, try to pack the couch tight. Big reclining chairs, loveseat, another couch, etc. can go right on top of the base couch, flipped over, legs up and back to the wall. Inside the couches is another good place to toss extra schmeg.
If you're concerned there's too much play, go ahead and tie off the couch just the same as the wall.
At this point, there shouldn't be much left in your place, and plenty of space in the truck. We could fit 4-bedroom McMansions into a 22-ft straightback, no problem. An 18 or even 15 footer will handle most 2 bedroom apts.
Mirrors and glass-covered prints, etc -- flat fragile stuff -- get tied up against the sides, upright -- always ship them upright! -- with ample padding UNDER them as well as over the glass, and again with a sheaf of cardboard (folded-up box, whatever) between it and the wall. Grills, always leave for the end (move propane tanks separately) and tie them off on the side. Trust me, no matter how clean you think it is, you do NOT want it to tip over or nudge your other stuff.
Basically, at this stage you want to only have left things you need to tie off and things you can lay on the floor and not worry about them getting dirty or shifting around some -- bicycles, kids playsets, yard tools, whatever.
And hopefully that's the last of your shit. Base, boxes, schmeg. Base, boxes, schmeg. High and tight. Wall. Tie it off. Couches, big chairs, TVs. Tie-offs and heavy shmeg.
Sorry for the novel, I kinda got into it. Was fun revisiting those days, as I sit in my small 11th-floor air-conditioned big-windowed office, and not missing them at fuck-all.
