Falkirk occupies an interesting geographical and logistical predicament. Being so near both Edinburgh and Glasgow means locals and outsiders alike overlook the fact it's an independent town in its own right with its own logistics difficulties. Whether you're moving house, hauling stock to a market stall, or transporting a piece of furniture across the Forth – at some point, you'll need a van you don't necessarily own, dumfries van hire.
This is one of those things you only learn the hard way: pricing for van hire in Falkirk and the surrounding area can differ greatly from day to day. Hiring a van at the weekend will naturally be harder to get, but when, during the middle of the week demand is considerably less, taking off a Tuesday is more likely to get you a much cheaper deal on the identical vehicle at a local hire firm near Callendar Park and the surrounding area.
Size turns out to be a much bigger problem than people expect. A short wheel base always seems okay until the 32-piece pine wardrobe isn't quite fitting through the back of it, and you find yourself doing half a dozen attempts at various angles, in the summer, working up a proper sweat. Take real measurements of your load and then measure it again. Do it once more and pad the figure a bit – nobody's boxes ever stack as you'd imagine.
It's fairly obvious that, on average, local companies know the local roads far better than one of the larger national firms. The Falkirk town centre one-ways will almost always catch out somebody who isn't familiar with the area – just ask any van hire owner and they'll have a story about someone inadvertently ending up in Bonnybridge or even all the way up to Bo'ness.
Insurance is without doubt the thing to pay a bit extra for and regret later. An "excess" will eventually be paid to a significant degree with a scraped wing mirror from a tight squeeze in an IKEA or similar car park – a small top-up will more than cover this.
The fuel policy should also be noted as being quite various. Have an ask before you leave and return it at the required usage: be it refilled, or charged a standard fee to do it.
Weather, for a lot of people in Scotland, factors heavily into rental choices – Scottish rain won't wait to check whether the van is hired on or around a designated house move day – especially not what condition the internal finish might end up in from any dampness that gets in, especially not something as basic as tyre grip or clear visibility on either its windows or side mirrors in poor conditions.