Moving to a new home is a significant task that requires careful planning, especially when transporting your belongings. A suitable trailer selection ensures a smooth process and guarantees the safe arrival of your furniture, appliances, and personal belongings.
You must pick a trailer type that meets your moving requirements. Different models have advantages and limitations. This article examines home moving trailers and their advantages and disadvantages, providing safety guidelines for secure and trouble-free transit.
Types of Trailers for Moving Your Home: Pros and Cons
Whether transporting furniture, appliances, or an entire household, the right trailer ensures your belongings arrive safely. Below, we explore different types of trailers used for home moving and their pros and cons.
1. Flatbed Trailers
Flat-open trailers enable the transportation of oversized or irregularly shaped items since they do not have enclosed walls. You can use flatbed equipment trailers if you have large items to transport. The main benefits are:
- Best for large items: Ideal for heavy furniture, pianos, and large appliances.
- No height restrictions: Evading height restrictions is feasible with this trailer type since it does not impose size limitations on vertical dimensions.
- Easy to Load: Forklifts and ramps can be used for heavy lifting.
However, they also come with a few disadvantages like:
- No weather protection: Using tarps is necessary when providing zero weather protection.
- Not ideal for small items: Loose objects can fall if you haven’t properly secured them.
- Requires experience: Towing and securing loads require skill.
2. Enclosed Cargo Trailers
Enclosed cargo trailers fully safeguard your belongings from the elements. They are of different sizes and come with hitch attachments that enable them to join vehicles. Their pros include:
- Weather protection: The enclosure protects your belongings against rain, wind, dust, and sun exposure.
- Security: Enclosed trailers offer security because you can lock them, which minimizes theft risks while in transit.
- Versatility: These trailers are versatile because they can transport large items like furniture and small items like electronics and personal belongings.
- Aerodynamics design: Some models of enclosed trailers feature aerodynamic designs that minimize wind resistance, improving towing efficiency.
However, they have some cons, too:
- Higher cost: Enclosed trailers offer higher purchase costs than their open-trailer counterparts.
- Heavier weight: These enclosed trailers become heavier, requiring strong towing vehicles to handle their weight.
- Limited space: They require longer time for both loading and unloading operations than open trailers do
3. Utility Trailers (Open Trailers)
Open utility trailers function without an enclosure, which makes them suitable for transporting bulky furniture, mattresses, and appliances. Their advantages include:
- Cheaper: These trailers offer better affordability since they cost less than enclosed trailers.
- Easy loading and unloading: The trailer’s lack of walls or doors makes it easy to access during loading and unloading operations.
- Lightweight: You can easily tow it with standard vehicles
You might face issues such as:
- Exposure to weather: Rains, wind, and dust create threats for exposed items.
- Security risk: No protection from theft during stops.
- Straps required: All items need tight binding through straps and tarps for this option, which can be time-consuming and labor-intensive. Additionally, you might have to carry out frequent checks and adjustments to ensure everything remains in place, especially on long trips or rough roads.
4. Car Hauler Trailers
Car hauler trailers are designed to transport vehicles, but you can also use them to move other large household items. Their pros are that they are:
- Excellent for moving vehicles: They are ideal for relocating a car and household items because they provide a stable and secure platform for transport, preventing unnecessary wear and tear on the vehicle.
- Heavy load capacity: They can carry substantial weight.
- Versatile: You can use them for furniture and other heavy loads.
Let’s look at their cons.
- Expensive to rent or buy: They cost more than basic moving trailers.
- Requires a substantial tow truck: For proper towing, moving motors of this type need a strong truck or SUV.
- Not ideal for small items: You should secure household items under 6 feet with additional methods.
Essential Trailer Safety Steps You Should Take When Moving Long-Distance
Thorough preparation is essential for traveling a long distance with a trailer to maintain roadway safety. Let’s look at three crucial trailer safety steps to prevent accidents and damage while transporting household items, vehicles, and other cargo.
1. Securing Cargo Properly
Proper cargo restraint is fundamental to maintaining trailer safety. Improperly securing items results in loss of control, damage to belongings, and dangerous incidents. To protect your items, use high-quality straps and tie-downs, such as heavy-duty ratchet straps with bungee cords and cargo nets, to hold them in position securely. Choose straps according to your cargo weight specifications.
Additionally, perform a quick movement test before driving by pushing or shaking each item. This test detects movement inside the trailer. Apply additional straps to stabilize any loose items.
2. Proper Weight Distribution
Trailer stability, together with control, depends on proper weight distribution. A trailer mishandling weight leads to unstable and dangerous movements such as fishtailing, swaying, and control-impairing steering and braking issues. Follow these guidelines:
- Place heavier items in the front: To maintain the appropriate hitch tongue weight, place the heaviest objects directly behind the axle in front of the trailer.
- Maintain a 60/40 weight ratio: The front section of the cargo area should contain 60% of the total weight while keeping 40% in the rear section.
- Avoid overloading to one side: The left and right trailer sides must receive equal weight distribution to stop the vehicle from tipping toward one direction.
- Check the tongue weight: Trailer owners should ensure the tongue weight is between 10 and 15 percent of the total trailer weight. Not having enough tongue weight creates swaying motion, while excessive tongue weight interferes with steering and braking abilities.
3. Road Safety Regulations and Best Practices
Each state maintains different trailer towing regulations, and you must follow the basic safety standards and legal requirements for all cases. First, verify your vehicle’s towing capacity by checking if it can support the total weight of your trailer and all its contents. Overloading your vehicle will cause transmission failure and brake failure.
Additionally, all trailer lights and reflectors must be operational, ensuring safety and compliance with traffic regulations. In addition to the lights, both trailer tires must maintain proper air pressure, and the brakes should operate correctly if the trailer has brake equipment. A safety inspection of trailer components must be conducted before starting any journey.
Drive your vehicle at low speeds. Towing a trailer requires longer stopping distances. The driver should maintain a steady course while attentive to trailer blind spots. Lastly, if you are new to towing, try practicing your driving skills, including braking, reversing, and trailer handling, in a secure space before traveling on the highway.
Endnote
The selection of a home-moving trailer depends on four primary considerations: transportation length, item type, security measures, and financial resources. Look thoroughly into all of these factors before making a decision. Execute strategic planning following the tips above for a safe and efficient home relocation experience.
We hope you found this blog post on Choosing the Right Trailer for Moving Your Home: Types, Pros, and Safety Tips, useful. Be sure to check out our post on Buying Guide: Different Types of Semi Trucks Explained for more great tips!
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