Took me moving my own stuff 3 times to figure out I was stacking boxes wrong

I run a moving company in Nashville, been doing it for like 7 years. But last month when I was helping my brother move out of his apartment in East Nashville, I realized I've been stacking boxes in the truck all wrong my whole career. I always put the heaviest stuff on bottom, lightest on top, right? Well my brother's buddy who works for a logistics company watched me load the first layer and said 'You're gonna crush all that stuff.' Turns out you're supposed to spread the heavy boxes out across the floor not stack them all in one spot. The weight distributes better and nothing gets pancaked. I felt like an idiot because I've probably damaged a dozen people's furniture doing it the other way for years. Has anyone else had that moment where someone points out a basic thing you've been doing backwards forever?

2 comments

2 Comments

jana_ellis951mo ago

Heavy boxes on the bottom actually makes sense for some things but you're right that weight distribution matters more than just stacking by size. The main issue is putting all the weight in one spot stresses the floor and the stuff underneath. Spreading it out keeps the load balanced and stops things from getting crushed.

kevin_martin1mo ago

I gotta push back on "spreading it out stops things from getting crushed" actually. If you spread heavy boxes everywhere, now every single box underneath is getting squished instead of just a few. I'd rather ruin one lamp than twelve of them, you know what I mean? Isn't the real problem just having too much heavy stuff period?