Hire a van

So you’ ve decided to hire a van, maybe it’ s to move house or just shift some furniture, whatever the reason you’ re no doubt feeling apprehensive about driving a vehicle as large as a van. Well there’ s no need to be as most modern vans of the type that all good hire companies rent out, are fairly easy to drive as they incorporate technology borrowed from modern cars such as powerful modern diesel engines (in the larger vans), and other standard items like A.B.S (anti lock brakes), power steering and some of the more luxurious models even have heated seats! As a result of all these technological improvements modern vans are very easy to drive at least when compared with those from 15 years ago. As for issues such as visibility whilst obviously the rear visiblity of
a van is more restricted than a car, most vans are equipped with large split wing mirrors to overcome these problems.

However despite all this it must be emphazied that you are not driving a car but a hire van (although a combo van such as the ford transit connect is almost the same as one), there is a few key differences to keep in mind so that you drive safely.

• There are no rear view mirrors in a van, so if you need to reverse use your wing mirrors and if you struggle find somebody to help you.
• The blind spots of vans are larger than those of cars, especially the left hand side, level with the passenger’s door which is a favourite spot of cyclists to sneak into so remember this before turning left. Though a lot of hire vans have additional “split blind spot mirrors”, to help cover these positions.
• A van when loaded will behave completely differently to an empty one. Your stopping distance will more than double, acceleration will be greatly reduced and the more taller the load the greater the tendency of the van to roll, so load your van evenly and take corners gently.
• Vans are wider, taller and longer than cars, so don’t exepect to squeeze through the same spots as you can in your car, and watch out for low bridges, car park barriers and other obstacles.
• Most importantly resist the urget to tailgate or overtake sharply, this will lead to disaster if you are not used to driving a van (or quite possibly even if you are!). Remember your hire van is intimidating to other smaller vehicles
• You will have a much higher vantage point when driving, so use it to see what is happening further in front.

Some further things to consider:

If this if the first time you’ve hired a van, then cheap isn’t always best as the cheaper models are less well equipped and so more of a challenge and generally have a heavier feeling to drive, so maybe you should consider spending a bit more to make your journey more relaxed.

Important: Remember vans are a favourite target of thieves, so be careful where you park your van and never leave it unattended when loaded.

Don’t forget to compare van hire prices and read up on the types of vans available, when you book so you can save time and money.