Within UK moving...truck rentals, etc. I miss U-haul!

We are moving next month, just about 8 miles from where we currently live. I know we can hire a "man with a van" but what I really want is a truck. We have furniture that is too big for a van (oddly shaped couch, bookshelves, super king) that we'd prefer not to have to disassemble. I've checked Hertz and some other local car rentals. Am I missing something?

Why can't I just rent a pick-up truck for a day anywhere?!

Are you sure you aren't taking "man with a van" too literally?  I think some of them have trucks as well.

I haven't talked to any with trucks and I've contacted a good handful, so possibly I was assuming? But also, when I ask local friends about truck rentals, they just stare back at me blankly!

Sounds like you've done the research more than me about the man in van situation.  I would have thought that if they had a load that was so big they could call a mate with a truck. 

If you do end up making do with a van, I noticed that zip car does vans as well.  I've also rented big vans from normal car rental firms as well.  You must have a heck of a sofa if it won't fit in a proper builder's van.

Have you gotten a quote for a moving company?   For our last move, I took pictures of all the rooms and described the stuff in an email and sent it out to a couple of moving companies.  Most were happy to give me a quote without too much hassle.  It might be worth checking. 

I haven't talked to any with trucks and I've contacted a good handful, so possibly I was assuming? But also, when I ask local friends about truck rentals, they just stare back at me blankly!

We tend to call them "vans". You can hire a Luton van with a lift too if you want, for getting those heavy items up into the van.

We don't tend to have open back trucks, if that is what you were thinking? If it rains, you will be glad of a "van".

Man with a van, can mean two or three men with a Luton. Or you can hire one yourself. Having moved ourselves once before , I would always hire the labour too now.

My son used two Russians with their van to move (getting across London to a top floor flat with lots of stairs) and they charged £20 an hour. They got a big tip as they worked very hard and were faster than they estimated.

Often your own house contents insurance will cover any breakages; have a look on your policy. So far, I've never had any breakages from "man with a van" and I have moved a lot, but always had breakages from the big named removal firms we used.

Yes! I just did a google search and they totally look like U-hauls. That would def work for us. And you're right that a pick up wouldn't work in the rain. I will look into that.

Thank you!

Yes! I just did a google search and they totally look like U-hauls. That would def work for us. And you're right that a pick up wouldn't work in the rain. I will look into that.

Thank you!

You're welcome. Don't forget to hire the strong men too. Plus they know how to load their van to get the full use out of the space. We had four friends helping us with our self moving and it was still hard work. Never again. And then we had to help them move!

If you hire men, you can just be tea maker and director. Their rule is that the kettle in the last thing to go in the van.

If you hire men, you can just be tea maker and director. Their rule is that the kettle in the last thing to go in the van.

Oh yes, I've noticed that all of the places when we did our viewings still had kettles in them, even if the rest of the house was empty!

We've hired a man with a van and it was definitely more of a U-haul truck/Luton.

We've also moved hiring a van (actual van, not a truck) from Sixt and it was pretty straightforward. I did the driving and DH did the lifting. We didn't have any furniture, so our move was probably easier than yours, but it was a lot of lifting (and driving!) and we were both exhausted the next day. If we had more stuff, we'd probably hire someone or get friends to help.

At the Sixt lot, they had plenty of larger vehicles that were U-haul/Luton-sized, but we didn't want to drive that through London, so we did two trips in one day in a large van. If do you the driving, make sure your UK licence covers the size of the vehicle you're renting.