Van hire company

2013yearofthehouse

I've never hired a van before and am just wondering if anyone can recommend a company to use or give any advice on do's/don't etc. please? Is it best to use a big company, book online/go in person etc. ? Any offers, or cheapest/er days to hire the van on? How much notice is usually required?

I've only ever moved using just a car before, but this time I have a double bed and sofa, as well as a few other bits, to move. The bed and sofa do separate into pieces, so the double mattress is probably the largest/heaviest item, although I do live in a 4th floor flat, with only a small lift! I have to transport them about 180 miles, so it's not a short trip, and I need to do so as cheaply as possible, so I'm assuming hiring a van is cheaper than a removal company? I've only just started looking at this, so not even sure what size I need yet, but assuming there are restrictions based on driving licence and I may need to get someone over 30 to drive the van for me (a brief look so far has found some companies require over 25 and some over 30).

Thanks

AdrianC

Your car driving licence will cover you up to 3.5t - and that's plenty big enough to be loading and unloading in one day on top of a 200 mile trip...


^ That's "Luton bodied", rather than a normal van body. It'll be more expensive to hire, but will hold a LOT more, and probably have a tail lift, which a normal van won't. You should be able to fit a double mattress into a normal van, but a full-size fridge-freezer would be unlikely. A normal van will use less fuel and be nicer to drive than a Luton.

Phone around the various local hire companies. They'll all be fairly similar. Be aware that almost any van you hire will require you to pay in full - with loss of hire whilst it's repaired - for any "overhead" damage, so be careful going under anything low...

dimbo61

Book the van well in advance !
The Luton type with tail lift get booked out weeks in advance.
Have you got a friend who can help with the move and drive the van as well.
Hire for three days so one to load and drive down, next day to unload and third day to return van.
180 miles with one driver is plenty in one day.
If you have 2 drivers and only one/two bed flat to load and unload you might do it 24 hours.

vansboy

Google search Man and Van, there are plenty that will come up.

If you've seen the TV prog Shipping Wars, they will bid to do your move - probably at a price similar to cost of van hire and fueling yourself. But with less hassle.

You can still shift some more valuable or fragile things in the car, but leave the heavy work to the guys that want to do it.

VB

jodles16

I used Anyvan.com described the job then people bid to get the work, the guys who did our house were quick and efficient with 100% feedback through the website, might we worth a nosy!

Jodles:D

2013yearofthehouse

Thanks Adrian. Yes, I think a normal van should be big enough, will do some double checking though.

This is probably a really silly question, but when you say call local companies, do you mean local to the start location or the end location? Or does it not matter because it will need to be a round trip anyway? I think some companies allow you to drop of the van in a different place to where you started, but I guess only the bigger ones with multiple depots. I actually will need to return to the start point afterwards, plus the person helping me move will need to return to the end point, so it doesn't really matter, but a round trip (from either start or end point) would probably be easier. Now I'm waffling and thinking out loud, sorry....


Edit: thanks to other replies (that have appeared since writing my reply).
We have done the 340 mile (just looked it up, actually 170 miles each way) round trip many times (it's almost entirely motorway and takes around 2.5hrs each way, on a good day, 3-3.5hrs on a bad day) so no problem doing it within the day. Have already moved a lot of stuff via car (I was making a few necessary visits anyway, so figured I may as well take a car load with me each time), so only really the sofa and bed, plus a few boxes that need moving (it's only a tiny 1 bed flat).

Will look at AnyVan too, thanks

AdrianC

2013yearofthehouse wrote: »

This is probably a really silly question, but when you say call local companies, do you mean local to the start location or the end location? Or does it not matter because it will need to be a round trip anyway? I think some companies allow you to drop of the van in a different place to where you started, but I guess only the bigger ones with multiple depots. I actually will need to return to the start point afterwards, plus the person helping me move will need to return to the end point, so it doesn't really matter, but a round trip (from either start or end point) would probably be easier.

Those that do point-to-point will indeed be the largest, and will probably charge extra for it.

2013yearofthehouse

Interesting...

AnyVan coming in at £190-250 at the moment, but I'm guessing they'll get cheaper tomorrow.

Will ring some local companies tomorrow, but did some instant quotes on some of the national hire companies for now and they were around £50-150 for 24hours. Expected regional differences for smaller companies, but silly me thought national companies would have more universal pricing, but not so, for example, one company, same rental vehicle/time, £60 hiring from location "up north" (where I'm moving from) or £105 hiring from location "down south" (where i'm moving to) - that might make the decision of where to start a round trip from easier!

jacko74

Don't forget your diesel costs on top of your hire charge, I recently used a Ford Transit box van and was gobsmacked at how thirsty it was... calculated it at about 20mpg and that's with not a lot of weight in and driving like Miss Daisy!

AdrianC

jacko74 wrote: »

Don't forget your diesel costs on top of your hire charge, I recently used a Ford Transit box van and was gobsmacked at how thirsty it was... calculated it at about 20mpg and that's with not a lot of weight in and driving like Miss Daisy!

<chuckle> Yep, they do... We did 2,000 miles in six return trips in six days when we moved - and got through more money in diesel than in van rental!

2013yearofthehouse

Yes, thinking I need to get as small a van as I can manage to help keep fuel costs down (if I go the van hire route) - although they will all use quite a bit I guess. Must remember to actually use the right fuel type too, putting petrol (I've only ever bought petrol, so it's habit) in a diesel van would rather scupper my money saving plans! The car can do the whole journey on one tank, but if we're going to have to refill mid-route, it might be worth me finding some petrol stations/supermarkets just off the main route, as it's almost entirely motorways and I don't fancy paying motorway service station fuel prices.

Was looking at the Europcar website and noticed they charge over double for hiring (or returning) a van on a Friday than Monday-Thursday, which I guess makes sense and so something to avoid. It's only £35 for 24 hours Mon-Thurs medium van, which seems very low, am I missing something? Are there additional extras? I know I'd need about £10-12 more mileage over the basic 250 and then all the fuel on top - (sorry again if this is a silly question) are you given the van with a full tank and then you return with a full tank - is that how it works?