Move Planning Notes
Room counts convert to cubic feet, cubic feet convert to a truck or container band, and the conversion almost always argues for the next size up.
The unit of the whole exercise is the cubic foot. A standard small moving box holds about 1.6 cubic feet and an 18-inch cube carton about 5, so every estimate is ultimately a count of cartons plus the furniture around them. Walk each room, note the pieces, and estimate cartons per room before thinking about vehicles.
Planning figures used across the industry put a two-bedroom home at 700-900 cubic feet and a three-bedroom at 1,000-1,200, both including garage and loft space. The range exists because storage areas are the swing factor: two flats with identical rooms can differ by a third once tools, sports gear and seasonal boxes are counted.
Trucks come in capacity bands. A 15 ft box truck holds about 750-1,000 cubic feet, a 17 ft holds 1,100-1,250 and a 20 ft holds 1,400-1,700. Notice where the two-bedroom estimate lands: at the very top of the smallest band. That is why the next size up is almost always the right call.
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The arithmetic of getting it wrong is asymmetric. Oversizing by one band costs a modest difference in daily rate; undersizing means a second trip, a same-day upgrade to whatever truck remains, or leaving the garage behind. Dispatchers see the undersized version fail weekly.
For international moves the same rule applies in metres. A 20 ft ISO container is 33 cubic metres gross, but household goods load to roughly 20-30 cubic metres because furniture cannot be stacked to the ceiling like palletised freight. Planning against the gross figure overestimates capacity by a wide margin.
The working rule: estimate honestly, then book one band above the estimate. If the load comes in small, the extra space costs little; if it comes in large, the extra space is the difference between one trip and two. For the cost side of the same decision, see What a move costs.
Further reading