Cargo Van vs Box Truck: Which Do You Actually Need?
A practical sizing guide for Canadian moves and deliveries — cargo vans, 16-foot, 20-foot, and 26-foot box trucks. What each fits, what each costs, and how to pick right.
Picking the wrong truck size is the most common — and most expensive — mistake people make when planning a move. Book too small and you make two trips, doubling the cost. Book too big and you pay for empty cubic feet you didn't need.
This guide breaks down what each Canadian moving truck size actually fits, what they cost, and the small details (clearance, weight limit, accessibility) that matter more than the marketing photos suggest.
The four sizes you'll see
| Vehicle | Cargo volume | Payload | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cargo van | ~250–500 ft³ | ~3,000 lbs | ~10–11 ft cargo area |
| 16-foot box truck | ~800 ft³ | ~4,500 lbs | 16 ft cargo area |
| 20-foot box truck | ~1,000 ft³ | ~6,000 lbs | 20 ft cargo area |
| 26-foot box truck | ~1,700 ft³ | ~10,000 lbs | 26 ft cargo area |
Cargo van — when it actually works
A cargo van (Mercedes Sprinter, Ford Transit, Ram ProMaster) is a passenger-vehicle-sized solution. It drives like a tall SUV, parks in most spots, and clears most parking garages.
Great for:
- Studio apartment moves with minimal furniture
- Marketplace pickups (Facebook Marketplace, Kijiji, Costco runs)
- Single-item furniture deliveries (couch, dining table, mattress)
- Same-day urgent pickups
- Tight downtown access where box trucks can't maneuver
- Underground parking garage access
Not great for:
- Anything over 1 bedroom of contents
- Items longer than 10 feet (most lumber, full sectional couches)
- Multi-stop runs accumulating loads
Cost (Canadian rates, 2026):
$85–$110/hour with driver, 2-hour minimum
16-foot box truck — the unsung hero
The 16-foot box truck is the most underrated size. It fits a surprisingly large load, drives almost as easily as a van, and rarely runs into clearance problems.
Great for:
- One-bedroom apartment moves (complete)
- Small two-bedroom apartment moves with light contents
- Studio moves with bulky items (Murphy bed, full sectional)
- Office relocations under 8 employees
- Construction supply runs (lumber, drywall, tools)
- Cross-town runs where parking is tight
Not great for:
- Full two-bedroom apartments with heavy furniture (it'll fit, but with no margin)
- Three-bedroom homes or anything larger
Cost:
$135–$165/hour with driver, 3-hour minimum. Add $45–$55/hour per extra mover.
20-foot box truck — the apartment standard
The 20-foot box truck is the Canadian industry's residential standard. Most one- and two-bedroom moves fit comfortably with room to spare. It drives like a 16-footer but carries 25% more.
Great for:
- Two-bedroom apartments (most common use)
- Small two-bedroom houses
- One-bedroom with significant storage (basement, garage)
- Long-haul moves where you want some cushion in case stuff doesn't fit as expected
- Inter-provincial moves of 2-bedroom volume
Not great for:
- Tight downtown streets (in some neighborhoods, can't park on the street)
- Three-bedroom homes (will require two trips or upgrade)
- Most underground parking (over 9 ft tall — won't clear most ramps)
Cost:
$165–$195/hour with driver, 3-hour minimum.
26-foot box truck — the household mover
The 26-foot box truck is what national van lines (Atlas, Allied, North American) typically dispatch for whole-home moves. It can absorb a 3- or 4-bedroom house in a single load.
Great for:
- Three- and four-bedroom houses
- Moves with multiple bulky pieces (pianos, gun safes, large appliances)
- Long-distance moves where two-trip economics don't work
- Office moves of 10–25 employees
- Large furniture delivery (multiple sectionals, dining sets)
Not great for:
- Anywhere with parking restrictions or low clearance
- Moves with limited driveway access
- Apartments without freight-elevator access (long carries get expensive)
- Some narrow Toronto / Old Montreal streets
Cost:
$215–$260/hour with driver, 3-hour minimum. Add $50–$60/hour per extra mover.
How to size your move correctly
The honest method:
- Count the rooms of furniture, not the bedrooms of the house. An empty 4-bedroom upstairs and a furnished basement plus living room equals 3 rooms of furniture, not 4.
- Estimate box count. Average household: 25 medium boxes per "room of furniture." A 2-room move is ~50 boxes.
- Identify outliers. Pianos, gun safes, hot tubs, motorcycles — items that bump you up a size on their own.
- Round up, not down. The 20-footer holds your stuff. The 16-footer probably does. The 16-footer doesn't hold your stuff plus a few items you forgot to mention.
The single most common sizing mistake is treating a bedroom count as a truck-size formula. People say "two-bedroom apartment" and assume that means 20-footer. It usually does—but a minimalist who sleeps on a mattress-on-the-floor and owns two bookshelves fits comfortably in a 16-footer. And a two-bedroom where one room doubled as a home office with a standing desk, monitor rig, and filing cabinet may need the 20-footer to have any breathing room at all.
The better question is: how many standard moving blankets would it take to wrap every large item you own? Each blanket covers roughly one furniture piece. Experienced movers plan for about 12 blankets per 500 ft³ of cargo space. A 16-foot truck running efficiently holds around 20 blanketed pieces plus boxes. A 20-footer handles about 30. If you're counting large items and your number is pushing 25–30 before you've even thought about boxes, step up to the next size.
Quick sizing rules of thumb
| Your situation | Right truck |
|---|---|
| Studio apartment, minimal stuff | Cargo van |
| Studio with full furniture | 16' box truck |
| 1-bedroom apartment | 16' or 20' box truck |
| 2-bedroom apartment | 20' box truck |
| 2-bedroom house with basement | 20' or 26' box truck |
| 3-bedroom house | 26' box truck |
| 4-bedroom house | 26' box truck (may need 2 trips) |
| Single bulky item delivery | Cargo van |
| Lumber/drywall run from Home Depot | 16' box truck (or cargo van for small) |
| Office under 5 people | 16' box truck |
| Office 5–15 people | 20' box truck |
| Office 15–30 people | 26' box truck (often 2 trips) |
Clearance and access — the things people forget
Underground parking
Most underground parking ramps in Canadian condo and office buildings are signed 6'6" to 8'0" clearance.
- Cargo van: usually clears (7'–8')
- 16' box truck: usually doesn't clear (~10' tall)
- 20' and 26': definitely don't clear
If your building has underground parking only, you'll need a cargo van plus a longer carry from the loading dock, or you'll need to coordinate truck parking outside.
Street parking width
Some Toronto and Old Montreal residential streets are too narrow for a 26-foot truck. The driver's door has to open and the ramp has to extend without blocking traffic.
Building loading docks
Most commercial buildings have loading docks sized for full tractor-trailers. A 26-foot box truck fits easily; a cargo van sits awkwardly low. Confirm dock height with the property manager before move day.
The economics of two trips vs upsize
If you're local (within a city), two trips with a smaller truck can be cheaper than one trip with a bigger one. Math:
| Option | Hours | Hourly cost | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 16' truck, 2 trips, 1 mover | 8 | $190/hr | $1,520 |
| 20' truck, 1 trip, 1 mover | 5 | $220/hr | $1,100 |
| 26' truck, 1 trip, 2 movers | 4 | $345/hr | $1,380 |
Right-size beats both undersized-with-extra-trip and oversized-with-cushion. Get the size right.
For long-distance moves
Long-distance flat-rate pricing means truck size matters less to you (the rate is the rate), but more to whether your stuff actually fits. There's no "run another trip" option when the truck is heading from Toronto to Halifax.
For long-distance, always size up. Pay 10% more for the next size class and avoid the catastrophic problem of stuff not fitting at all.
When you're not sure
Send us photos of your major rooms and we'll tell you the right size honestly — including telling you when you can save money by going smaller. Get a sizing recommendation.
For more on what we run, see our fleet page.
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