Let me tell you a story about a low speed head on collision involving a loaded van. The front of the van did its job and the occupants were safe. But only through luck. In the rear, the situation wasn’t so good. One object at the back of the van (a water container weighing around 25kg) was not properly secured.

It came hurtling towards the front of the van in the crash, damaging or destroying everything in its path (mostly wooden furniture and plastic storage crates. There was more damage in the back of the van there there was in the front – thanks to a single item in the load that was not properly secured.

Fortunately, the van had a bulkhead that stopped the water container from continuing its journey into the front part of the van.

The lesson here is basic physics – the power of momentum. The force needed to stop a moving object is considerable – and that includes restraining your load when you stop, start and corner.

To learn about loading your van securely when moving house, have a look at our “How to load your hire van” guide. It’s not rocket science but it is important.