Truck size calculator
What size moving truck do you need?
Pick your home size, or tick off what is actually going on the truck. You will get a size, how full it would be, whether the size below would do if you pack it tight, and how long loading takes.
We don't rent trucks. We bring ours, or we load the one you have rented. So unlike the calculator on a rental company's site, this one has no reason to put you in a bigger truck than you need.
Truck size calculator
The quick answer. Volumes are what a home of that size usually comes to.
Slower, and worth it near a size boundary — which is exactly where renting one size down saves money.
Bedroom
- King bed and mattress70 cu ft
- Queen or double bed55 cu ft
- Single bed40 cu ft
- Bunk beds (pair)70 cu ft
- Wardrobe or armoire40 cu ft
- Chest of drawers30 cu ft
- Bedside table5 cu ft
- Mirror10 cu ft
- Wardrobe box (30 hangers)10 cu ft
Living and dining
- Sectional sofa90 cu ft
- Sofa, 3-seat50 cu ft
- Sofa, 2-seat35 cu ft
- Armchair or recliner25 cu ft
- Dining table30 cu ft
- Dining chair5 cu ft
- Sideboard or TV unit25 cu ft
- Bookcase20 cu ft
- Coffee table10 cu ft
- TV, boxed10 cu ft
- Rug, rolled10 cu ft
- Floor lamp5 cu ft
Kitchen and appliances
- Fridge-freezer60 cu ft
- Cooker or range30 cu ft
- Washer or dryer (each)25 cu ft
- Dishwasher20 cu ft
- Microwave5 cu ft
- Kitchen box3 cu ft
Office
- Desk25 cu ft
- Office chair10 cu ft
- Filing cabinet15 cu ft
- Computer and monitor, boxed10 cu ft
- Box of files or books3 cu ft
Garage and outdoors
- Patio set40 cu ft
- Exercise machine40 cu ft
- Lawn mower20 cu ft
- Barbecue20 cu ft
- Tool chest15 cu ft
- Bicycle10 cu ft
- Ladder10 cu ft
- Garden tools (bundle)10 cu ft
- Plastic tote3 cu ft
Boxes
- Extra-large box6 cu ft
- Large box4.5 cu ft
- Medium box3 cu ft
- Small box1.5 cu ft
Choose a home size above, or tick off a few items.
You need
Capacities are what the rental fleets publish; the usable figure is about 85% of it, which is what furniture leaves once it is stacked. Fleets differ, so check the one you are renting from.
What fits in each truck
Cargo van
A few pieces of furniture, a dorm room, or a marketplace pickup.
Drives like a car, parks like one. Most have no ramp, so everything is lifted in.
10-foot truck
A studio, or one bedroom without the extras.
Usually no ramp on this size, which matters more than the extra few feet of space.
15-foot truck
A one-bedroom with everything, or a tightly packed two-bedroom flat.
The most commonly rented size, and the smallest that reliably has a ramp.
20-foot truck
A two to three-bedroom home.
Still drivable by most people. Watch the height in parking garages.
26-foot truck
A three to five-bedroom house.
A big vehicle on a Seattle street. If you have never driven one, that is the real cost of this size, not the rental rate.
What people get wrong
Renting one size too small. It is the single most common mistake, and it is discovered at the worst possible moment — the truck is full, there is furniture left on the pavement, and the crew is on the clock. One size up costs tens of dollars. A second trip costs a few hours.
Forgetting the garage. Bedrooms get counted; the mower, the patio set, the bikes and the tool chest do not. On the item-by-item tab they are their own section for exactly that reason.
Assuming a ramp. Smaller trucks and most cargo vans do not have one, which turns every heavy item into a lift. If the choice is close, the ramp is a better reason to size up than the cubic feet.
Not thinking about the driving. A 26-foot truck on a narrow street, in a parking structure, or backing into a driveway is a genuine skill. If that worries you more than the money, a full move with our truck and our driver is the version where none of that is your problem.
Questions we get asked
What size truck do I need for a 2-bedroom?
A 15-foot truck if it is a flat and you pack it floor to ceiling; a 20-foot one if it is a house, or if there is a garage, a patio set or appliances coming. The calculator above splits that decision on what you actually own rather than on the number of bedrooms.
Is it cheaper to rent a bigger truck or make two trips?
One bigger truck, nearly always. A second trip is the drive both ways again, the fuel, and another two to three hours of loading and unloading. The gap between one truck size and the next is usually $20 to $40 on the day.
What happens if the truck is too small?
You find out at the end, with the last of the furniture on the pavement. That is the expensive mistake this page exists to prevent: either a second trip, or paying a crew to wait while someone drives back.
Do you rent trucks?
No. We bring our own truck as part of a move, or we load and unload the one you have rented — that is labor only, by the hour. Either way we are not the ones renting you the vehicle, which is why this calculator has no reason to oversize it.
Can you drive my rental truck?
No — rental agreements name the driver, and ours is not on it. We load it, you drive it, we unload it at the other end. Plenty of moves work exactly that way.
You rent it, we load it
Loading and unloading a rental truck is labor only — by the hour, with a minimum covering up to the first 3 hours, and no truck of ours needed. If you would rather not drive at all, a full move includes our truck and the driving; prices by home size are on the moving cost guide.
Sizing a storage unit rather than a truck? That is the storage size guide, same calculator, different answer.
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