Furniture Trailer Hire And Driving Tips

Tuesday, July 15th, 2014

Read about 'Furniture Trailer Hire And Driving Tips' on USAVE, the place for all things car rental.

Furniture trailers are an easy way of increasing the storage space of your vehicle, whether the objects you’re storing are furniture or not. Covered and secure, they come in two sizes – luggage trailers and furniture trailers. Luggage trailers are designed for suitcases and other smaller objects, and are quite light and can be pulled by smaller cars. Furniture trailers are somewhat bigger and taller, ideal for basic furniture moving. With these you don’t need to hire an entire truck for just a smaller moving job, such as buying and selling individual pieces.

While pretty much any vehicle of reasonable size can pull a trailer, it won’t necessarily feel the same to drive. There are many difficulties that can arise with towing trailers, and these increase when the loads are taller and heavier as in the case of furniture trailers. Therefore it’s important you know how to drive safely, as well as manoeuvre them into the spaces you need.

1. Hitch securely. To start with you need to ensure your trailer is completely secured in its attachment to the vehicle. All trailers will have a locking mechanism that keeps them on the towbar, as well as a cable to connect the lights. If you aren’t sure how to do this safely, ask the USAVE staff for assistance.

2. Distribute weight evenly. Within the trailer it’s important to spread the weight out as evenly as possible, otherwise it’ll skew it in a certain direction and cause it to sway.

3. Braking. With extra weight and extra momentum, you need to give yourself plenty of room when braking. The best strategy is to come to a slow and gentle halt, reducing speed naturally rather than relying on sharp stops.

4. Parking and reversing. If you aren’t experienced with towing a trailer, it’s usually wise to have someone stand alongside and give you directions and instruction. Backing a trailer can be frustrating for first-timers, but a useful hint is to place your hand on the bottom of the steering wheel and move it in the direction you want the trailer to go. It takes a bit of getting used to, so go slow. You can always unhitch and move it into a more particular position if you need to.

Furniture trailer hire is an efficient method of furniture removal, but like all trailer driving it requires some finesse. Remember these tips and choose the right sized trailer for the task at hand.