Moving Truck Size Calculator

What size moving truck do I need for a 3 bedroom house?

At this calculator's default of 400 cubic feet per bedroom, a three-bedroom home estimates at 3 × 400 = 1,200 ft³. A 20-foot box truck usually publishes about 1,000 ft³ of cargo space, so 1,200 ft³ does not fit — a 26-foot truck at roughly 1,600 to 1,700 ft³ is the realistic single-load choice, and it leaves 400 to 500 ft³ of working room for awkward shapes and a mattress standing on edge. If the house is lightly furnished, a 20-footer plus one short second trip can work. If it has a full garage or a workshop, take the 26.

The 400 ft³ per bedroom figure is a whole-home proxy, not a bedroom-only measurement — it is meant to absorb the living room, kitchen, dining, and hallway contents that scale with house size. What it does not absorb is a garage full of tools, patio furniture, gym equipment, or long-term basement storage. Those are the items that turn a comfortable load into an overflow on the driveway. Enter your own cubic-foot total to override the bedroom estimate any time you have made an actual inventory, because a measured list always beats a per-bedroom average.

How many cubic feet does a moving truck hold?

Consumer rental fleets run in fairly consistent tiers. A cargo van holds roughly 245 to 260 ft³, a 10-foot box truck about 380 to 400 ft³, a 15-footer around 760 to 800 ft³, a 17-footer near 860 to 880 ft³, a 20-footer about 1,000 ft³, and a 26-footer between 1,600 and 1,700 ft³. Step up one tier and you typically gain 200 to 600 ft³, so the difference between a 20-footer and a 26-footer is roughly a full bedroom's worth of goods. Exact figures vary by rental company, body manufacturer, and model year, so read the published cargo volume and payload rating for the specific truck you are reserving instead of trusting a generic chart you found online.

Length alone does not tell you volume, because interior height and width differ between fleets and because over-cab compartments add usable space that is only good for light, soft items. FMCSA's moving glossary calls a single cab-and-body vehicle a straight truck and describes it as generally one half the size and capacity of a tractor-trailer [2] — useful context when a professional mover quotes a shuttle or a smaller vehicle for a narrow street or a low bridge. Before booking, also confirm ramp versus liftgate, door opening height, and tie-down rail spacing.

How do you estimate the cubic feet of your household goods?

There are two methods and they answer different questions. The fast method is bedroom count × 400 ft³, which is what this calculator does by default; it is good enough for choosing between truck tiers. The accurate method is an inventory: list major furniture, estimate each piece in cubic feet, count cartons by size, and total the list. A medium carton is about 3.0 ft³ and a large carton about 4.5 ft³; a three-seat sofa runs near 50 ft³ and a queen mattress set near 45 ft³. Build the list once and you can price every moving option against the same number.

Professional movers do the same thing with a survey. FMCSA defines a survey as the booking or origin agent examining — visually inspecting — the shipper's goods to develop a cost estimate [2], and requires that when your origin is within a 50-mile radius of the mover's or its agent's place of business, the estimate must be based on a physical survey of your goods unless you waive that in a written agreement signed before loading [1]. Whether you rent a truck or hire a carrier, the inventory is the document that makes every later number checkable.

How do you calculate cubic feet for a 3 bedroom move with a garage?

Build the estimate in layers. Three bedrooms at the 400 ft³ default is 1,200 ft³. Add a moderately full one-car garage at about 150 ft³ of tools, bikes, and bins, plus 60 ft³ of patio furniture and a grill: 1,200 + 150 + 60 = 1,410 ft³ — the named result. Now compare against the tiers. A 20-foot truck at 1,000 ft³ is 410 ft³ short, while a 26-footer at about 1,650 ft³ leaves 240 ft³ of spare capacity, roughly 17% headroom. Book the 26 and enter 1,410 as your cubic-foot override instead of relying on the bedroom default.

Headroom is not waste. Leaving 15% to 20% covers the volume lost to irregular shapes, the mattress that will not lie flat, the box that cannot be stacked, and the items you find in the attic on loading day. Loading dense goods low and light goods high costs some usable volume too, and blankets, straps, and dollies take up space of their own. On a 1,410 ft³ load, 17% headroom is 240 ft³ — about the capacity of a cargo van. If spare capacity drops below roughly 10%, either move up a tier or plan a deliberate second trip, rather than discovering the shortfall with a half-loaded truck and a closing deadline.

Is it cheaper to rent one big truck or make two trips?

Run the arithmetic on both. A 26-foot rental usually costs more per day than a 20-footer and burns more fuel per mile, but a second trip doubles the distance driven and adds hours of loading and unloading. For a 30-mile local move, two round trips in a 20-footer means about 120 miles of driving against 60 miles in a 26-footer, plus a whole extra load-and-unload cycle. Multiply your rental's per-mile charge and estimated fuel by both totals, then add the value of the extra half-day. Beyond roughly 50 miles one way, second trips almost always lose.

The professional-mover comparison uses different arithmetic. FMCSA requires your mover to prepare a written estimate on every shipment and entitles you to a copy when the mover prepares it [1]. Under a non-binding estimate you should be prepared to pay ten percent more than the estimated amount at delivery — the 110 percent rule — while a binding estimate guarantees the total cost for the quantities and services shown [1][2]. FMCSA also defines overflow as articles left behind due to insufficient space on a van, to be loaded on a second van [2]: the professional version of the problem this calculator exists to prevent.

How much cargo volume does each rental truck size hold?

Fleet specifications vary by rental company and model year. Confirm published cargo volume and payload rating before booking.

How does bedroom count convert to cubic feet and truck size?

Matches the calculator's 400 ft³ per bedroom default. Enter your own cubic-foot total whenever you have a real inventory.

How much might a load weigh at common cubic-foot totals?

Illustrative density arithmetic, not a mover's tariff conversion. Dense loads can exceed a truck's payload before the box is full.

Work these out first

• cubic feet room by roomRoom Volume Calculator
• the home's square footageSquare Footage Calculator

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