Bangkok--14 Jul--Hill+Knowlton Strategies
Have you ever stood outside a big DIY furniture store scratching your head, desperately wondering how you are going to get all the furniture you just bought into the back of your car? Or been left kicking yourself for once again having to spend money on a removals company when all of your stuff barely takes up one room?
If so, you're not alone. The search for a solution to frustrations like these is one of the reasons more and more people in Thailand are buying pickups.
Pickup trucks make packing and transporting household items a breeze, but many new pickup drivers don't know how to get full use of their truck bed capacity, or that a poorly-packed load could be dangerous. Luckily, a few simple tips can take you from truck-loading novice to pro in no time, and have you driving out of the DIY store parking lot with a satisfied smile on your face.
Use bubble wrap
Bubble wrap is a great way to keep your valuable household items safe and secure from any scrapes and scratches a bumpy ride could produce.
Use extra attachment points
If the truck has space for extra attachments, fix them on. They will come in handy for securing your load.
Get heavy-duty ratchet straps
Heavy-duty ratchet straps are the best way to make the most of the truck's attachment points. Use them to fix the load in place, and then crank them tight so that everything is secure.
Put small items in boxes
Small items not only get lost easily, they are also more likely to wriggle loose and come out of the truck. Boxes help keep your small items together, and are easy to secure in place.
Make crosses with the straps
Crossing the ratchet straps across your load in an 'X' shape helps make sure that more of the load is covered by the straps, lessening the chance of it coming loose.
Cover the load
Using either a cargo net or tarpaulin, cover the entire load and fix the cover in place with ropes to stop it blowing in the wind.
With your items in place, you can head home worry free.
Check out this video to see how you can take advantage of all these tips when packing household items in your pickup truck.