What’s the most important thing when packing for a road trip? While getting all your gear loaded can feel chaotic at times, properly storing everything is critical to arriving at your destination safely. A safe loading and unloading process helps avoid potential hazards down the road.
Whether you’re heading out for a weekend getaway or a month-long adventure, following a few best practices helps ensure your vehicle, possessions, and passengers are adequately secured.
This article outlines five tips to mindfully plan your load for safety at every journey step.
1. Spread Weight Evenly
It is essential to distribute your luggage evenly when loading the vehicle. A weight imbalance can hurt handling, and cause unnecessary stress to the chassis and suspension of your vehicle. Place heavier items towards the middle of the car and on the bottom. This helps maintain a low center of gravity. This promotes stability and helps reduce the possibility of dangerous swaying or rolling over, especially when there is wind.
Then, place the heaviest items at the bottom, such as spare tires, coolers for food or beverages, extra fuel, and jerry cans. These items should be placed side-by-side directly behind the rear seats or cab.
Also, fitting your car with rivian roof rack helps in weight distribution. A roof rack gives you the space to carry luggage, sports equipment, and duffel bags because they are usually moderately heavy.
The remaining space can be filled with lighter items like clothing, food, and personal effects. Group similar items, like stacking luggage together or mounting a bike on its platform, to manage the load profile. Also, make sure that the weight is evenly distributed side to side. Uneven weight distribution can cause poor handling, tire wear, and tire failure.
2. Secure Loose Item
As soon as the initial loadout has been completed, ensure that all items are securely fastened to avoid unwanted movement in transit. Even light objects can become airborne in the event that a sudden brake or swerving maneuver is performed. Loose articles can pose a serious danger to vehicle occupants and other drivers.
3. Mindful Placement Is Important
Once you have weight that is well distributed, take time to ensure you have maximum space by arranging the items in an easily accessible manner. Doing this makes it easier to get any extra clothes, entertainment, and any other item you may require by strategically placing the items at the top or within reach.
It is essential to ventilate the trunk and rear compartment during longer trips. This prevents musty odors from forming or humid issues that could damage items over time. You can adjust ventilation based on the weather conditions. A cooler near the back of the car with cold drinks or road trip snacks also helps reduce digging when you need refreshments.
4. Check Visibility
Visibility in all directions is crucial for safety on the road. To ensure that the cargo doesn’t block a driver’s view, it is essential to make sure there are no obstructions. Before driving away, it is vital to check mirror placement and the lines of vision around mirrors and windows. When the vehicle is fully loaded, it may be necessary to make adjustments.
The visibility of the rear windscreen could be impaired by large, bulky objects mounted high. Keep the entire rear window clear to ensure complete situational awareness.
In the same way, side mirrors need to have complete peripheral vision to see other lanes and blind spots when changing lanes or making a turn at an intersection. Suction cup extensions are useful if protruding objects block mirrors. Keep coolers, more oversized luggage, and other gear at a low level to avoid obscuring mirrors.
5. Unloading Safely Is Important
When arriving at your destination, you should use the same care when unloading your cargo as when securing it for the trip. Release securing fixtures such as bungees to free up individual items and maintain an organized load. The stability devices won’t suddenly shift as they are removed.
When lifting heavier objects, extra caution is required. Help is needed when repositioning multiple heavy items at once. Use your legs instead of your back and ask someone else to assist you. Mechanical aids are also recommended for large or awkward loads, which may cause injury through overexertion, poor posture, or pinching hazards. Dollies, carts, or tailgates that are lower to ground level are intelligent solutions.
Conclusion
These five essential best practices help maintain control over the vehicle cargo. The diligence needed to haul travel gear safely is in the distribution of weight, the securing of all items, and their placement for accessibility and visibility. It only takes a little planning to avoid issues that can lead to expensive damage, injuries, or unsafe driving situations.
