Things very rarely break at the drop-off. They break at the first roundabout, when a badly stacked load leans, settles into a new shape, and puts the weight of four boxes onto the one containing the glasses.
Almost all of it is preventable in the ten minutes before your partner arrives. None of it requires special equipment.
Pack to the box, not to the gap
A half-full box is worse than a heavy one. Empty space is what lets contents move, and movement is what does the damage. Fill every box to the top — with towels, clothes, crumpled paper, anything soft — until nothing rattles when you tilt it.
Then close it properly. A box folded shut by interleaving the flaps will open itself the moment it is lifted by the middle. Tape it, along the seam and across both ends.
Heavy things go in small boxes
This feels backwards and it is the most useful rule here. Books, tiles, tins and tools go in the smallest box that holds them; light bulky things go in the big ones.
A large box packed with heavy items cannot be lifted safely, cannot be stacked on, and usually fails at the base halfway to the van. Keep any single box to something one person can carry without changing their grip.
Build the stack like a wall
- Heaviest at the bottom, lightest at the top — always.
- Flat surfaces against flat surfaces, so each layer supports the next.
- Nothing pyramid-shaped: a stack that narrows as it rises will topple.
- Fill the gaps. A load packed tight against itself cannot shift; a load with room to slide will use it.
If you have soft items — bedding, cushions, bags of clothes — save them for last and use them as padding between hard edges rather than packing them first and burying them.
Label the two boxes that matter
You do not need to label everything. You need to label the fragile ones and the ones you will want within an hour of arriving. Write on the side, not the top — once it is stacked, the top is invisible.
Tell your partner which boxes are the fragile ones when they load. They will place them last and on top, which is exactly where they should be, and it costs nobody any time.
Have it by the door
The single biggest thing you can do for a delivery is finish packing before it starts. A load stacked and sealed by the door turns a forty-minute job into a ten-minute one, keeps waiting time off your fare, and gets your partner back on the road for the next booking.
Pack the night before if you can. It is the only part of the day that is entirely in your hands.
Ready when you are
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