What to look out for when hiring a van:
For many moves, your own car or your friends’ cars are too small. Most cars quickly reach their limits, especially when transporting larger electrical appliances such as washing machines. That’s when hiring a removal van makes sense. But which one should you hire, and what size are you allowed to drive with a standard car licence? In this article, we answer the most important questions.
The first boxes are packed and the biggest holes in the wall have been filled – only a few days to go until moving day. Now at the latest, you should think about whether your own car has enough space for your household belongings or whether a removal van would be more suitable and convenient. If you opt for a van, the first question is where to hire it.
Where can I hire a removal van?
Anyone who has ever hired a car on holiday knows that the vehicle hire market is huge. There are numerous providers to choose from, such as Sixt, Hertz or Europcar, which hire out removal vans as well as cars. Comparison portals such as Check24 or billiger-mietwagen.de can help with your search.
DIY stores and furniture stores usually have their own fleet of vans, too. You will often be visiting these shops anyway before a move, so you may be able to save time and money when hiring the van. Many companies offer discounted terms in combination with a purchase.
Class B driving licence: which van are you allowed to drive?
With a class B car driving licence, which most German drivers hold, you may drive vans weighing up to 3.5 tonnes. What matters is the gross vehicle weight, not the weight of the empty vehicle. For example, if the van weighs 2.5 tonnes, the load must not exceed a maximum of 1,000 kilograms. Vans or lorries with a higher gross weight require a class C driving licence.
Which van do I need for my move?
Which size is best for your move depends on many factors, so there is no one-size-fits-all answer. However, the floor area of the flat in square metres is a good guide. A van that makes full use of the maximum load of 3.5 tonnes has a load space of around 15 cubic metres. On average, for smaller flats you can equate the cubic metres with the square metres of the flat. So for a living space of 30 square metres, you need about 30 cubic metres of load volume. With the van from our example, two trips would therefore be needed to move all your household belongings. For a larger living space, you can reduce the
required load volume somewhat compared with the number of square metres, as most households only have one of each large item of furniture or electrical appliance.
If you have enough helpers with their own cars, a smaller van into which only the largest appliances and furniture are loaded may be sufficient. Smaller furniture and boxes can go in the helpers’ cars. Most car hire companies offer removal vans with a payload of between 500 and 1,000 kilograms.
Applying for a no-parking zone
When hiring a van, you should also check whether there is enough space to park in front of your old and new flat. If the street is very narrow or often full of parked cars, it may be worth applying for a temporary no-parking zone (Halteverbotszone). However, you should allow enough lead time, as the no-parking zone has to be applied for at the responsible road traffic authority or district office. In any case, the signs must be put up four days before the move. The cost of the no-parking zone varies from municipality to municipality and can be requested from the relevant authority.
Save yourself the work and use the Immomio service for applying for and setting up the no-parking zone.