One of the original reasons I created vanrental.co.uk (formerly known as MyLocalVanHire.co.uk) was that I knew from personal experience how confusing and intimidating van hire could be if you had never done it before and didn’t know much about vans.

That was four years ago and since then we’ve had more than 1.5m visitors – but things still haven’t changed; the most popular page on vanrental.co.uk is still the Van Size Guide, which provides a simple guide to the load space and carrying capacity of all the most popular types of hire van.

With that in mind, I’ve decided to create a more detailed guide to the main types and models of van that are on the market today and used by Britain’s van rental companies. This guide won’t cover every possible model of van, but it will cover most of the vans you are likely to come across when hiring a van.

Introducing Medium Panel Vans

vanrental.co.uk has had more than 1.5 million visitors in the four years since it was launched and a great many of those have gone on to rent vans from one of the companies listed in our database (more than 720 branches in 400+ locations at the last count).

One thing we have learned is that the most popular type of hire van is the medium panel van – in other words, a bog standard Ford Transit type van:

Medium vans - from l-r: Volkswagen Transporter, Renault Trafic/Vauxhall Vivaro & Ford Transit SWB

When you rent a medium van, this is what you are most likely to get (sometimes with a higher roof). These vans are usually short wheelbase models – Ford Transits in particular come in lots of different lengths, but this is the smallest, and the most common size you will get when you request a medium van.

Here are the four most common van models in this category. They are all very similar in size (see below) but they do vary slightly – I’ve listed them in size order, from largest to smallest:

1. Ford Transit SWB (short wheelbase)
2. Vauxhall Vivaro/Renault Trafic (the same vehicle, badged differently)
3. Volkswagen Transporter

For anyone concerned about the economy, there is some good news here too – many Transits are built at Ford’s Southampton plant, while Vauxhall Vivaros are all built at Vauxhall’s Luton factory.

Inside the rear of a Renault Trafic

Here’s what to expect, in terms of size:

• Overall van length: 5m
• Height: 2m or more, with a high roof
• Load space: 2.4m long, 1.7m wide & 1.4m high
• Payload (maximum load weight): Approx. 1,000kg (1 tonne)
• Maximum vehicle weight (fully laden): Usually 2.6t – 2.8t

These vans are all pretty easy to drive and are not much bigger than a large 4×4 – click here for my review of a Renault Trafic.

Please remember that all of these can vary slightly. If you need to know the exact dimensions or payload of the van you are hiring, you will need to speak to the company concerned when making your booking.

It is standard practice in the car and van hire industry to specify a ‘typical’ model when customers make bookings – this won’t necessarily be the exact make or model you get. Usually, this doesn’t matter, but it can do if space or weight is tight.