What size truck for a studio apartment?

Q: What size truck for a studio apartment?

At Penske, a 12-foot truck. At U-Haul or Budget, a bigger one. The smallest at each company: Penske 12-foot truck, U-Haul 15-foot truck (a 10-foot only if packed floor to ceiling), Budget 16-foot truck (a 12-foot only if packed floor to ceiling). By our 3D packing of a typical studio apartment list (36 pieces).

By the Every Last Box teamSizes checked October 29, 2026How we measure How we make money

Fits

At Penske, a 12-foot truck. At U‑Haul or Budget, a bigger one.

The smallest truck at each company, for a studio apartment:

Penske: 12-foot truck
U‑Haul: 15-foot trucka 10-foot only if packed floor to ceiling
Budget: 16-foot trucka 12-foot only if packed floor to ceiling

Not sure your list is like ours? Take the next size up: Penske's 16-foot truck.

Why the difference: U‑Haul's trucks go from 10 to 15 feet, and Budget's trucks go from 12 to 16 feet, with nothing in between.

Rather not drive? A moving container is dropped at your door: one 12 ft PODS container. Truck or container?

Studio apartment packed into the Penske 12' Truck (62% full) — A typical studio apartment, 36 pieces, packed into Penske's 12-foot truck by our planner.

Check my own list

More detail: every truck we tried, and what we counted

Our packing fills about 70–80% of a full truck; a careful pro load fits more, so a truck that "came close" below may work too.

Every truck and van for a studio apartment

Penske 12'62% full

Budget 16'45% full

Penske 16'37% full

U‑Haul 15'34% full

U‑Haul 20'27% full

Penske 22'21% full

Penske 26'17% full

Budget 26'17% full

U‑Haul 26'16% full

U‑Haul 29'15% full

Doesn't fit (6 trucks and vans)

Budget 12'34 of 36

U‑Haul 10'33 of 36

Penske Cargo Van29 of 36

Enterprise Cargo Van21 of 36

Budget Cargo Van19 of 36

U‑Haul 9' Cargo Van15 of 36

What we counted for a studio apartment

Full mattress × 1
Queen bed frame, taken apart × 1
Nightstand × 1
Tall chest of drawers × 1
Loveseat × 1
Coffee table × 1
TV stand × 1
55" TV in its box × 1
Dining chair × 2
Desk × 1
Office chair × 1
Tall bookcase × 1
Small moving box × 6
Medium moving box × 10
Large moving box × 4
Wardrobe box × 3

Box counts from the U‑Haul Moving Help box guide; other guides suggest up to twice as many boxes. The furniture list is our own typical list. Yours will differ, so change it in the planner.