Packing the van: order, weight and the two-minute load-out

The van is packed differently every time, the sub is behind the keyboard case, and the drummer's hardware bag is the thing everyone lifts over everything else at 01:00. Loading a van is a small engineering problem with one correct answer per band, and once you have solved it you never need to solve it again.

The rule that decides everything: last in, first out

What you need first at the venue goes into the van last. The order you set up a stage is roughly:

1. Drums and drum riser or rug, at the back of the stage
2. Backline: amps, keyboard stand
3. PA speakers and stands, at the front and sides
4. Mixer, snake, stage box, monitors
5. Mic stands, cables, power
6. Instruments, in their cases, last, because they are fragile and they are what you are tuning while the rest is being wired

So the van is loaded in reverse: instruments deep inside and protected, then cables and stands, then the mixer, then PA, then amps, then drums at the door. The first thing out is the first thing on stage. The same logic runs the load-out: drums are packed last on stage and go in the van first, into the far end.

Bands that skip this end up with a stage full of drum cases waiting for the PA to be freed from under them.

Weight: low, forward, centred

A loaded band van is a heavy vehicle driven by tired people at night. Two safety rules:

• Heavy items low and over or in front of the rear axle. Subs (30–50 kg each), bass cabs, the hardware bag (20–30 kg). Never stack a sub on top of cases at head height; it is a projectile in a hard stop.
• Balance left to right. A sub on the left and a sub on the right, not both on one side.

Know the payload of the vehicle. A typical medium panel van carries 900–1,300 kg; a 9-seat minibus with the rear seats out often only 600–900 kg. A 5-piece with its own PA and lights, plus five people and their bags, reaches 800–1,000 kg quickly. Overloading is unsafe, illegal and voids insurance; weigh the full rig once at a public weighbridge (5–15 EUR) so you know your number.

Straps and protection

• Nothing loose in the load area. In a crash, a 10 kg keyboard case moves like a bowling ball.
• Ratchet or cam straps on the anchor points: two across the load at minimum, more if there are gaps.
• Moving blankets between cases and painted cabinets. Cheap, and they save a fortune in scuffed gear and scratched hire vans.
• Cases with wheels go on the floor where they can roll out; cases without wheels stack on them.
• Instruments in hard cases, cases flat, never on their edge against the door.
• Nothing in the cabin except people, water and the gig folder. Cases in the passenger area are a legal issue in many countries and a safety issue everywhere.

A layout for a 5-piece with a small PA

Reading from the front bulkhead to the rear doors:

Zone	Contents
Bulkhead	Guitar and bass cases upright and strapped, keyboard case flat on top of the merch box
Middle floor	Two subs side by side, hardware bag between them, drum shells cases on top of the subs
Middle upper	Amp heads and combos, mixer case, cable and spares cases
Rear doors	PA tops in covers, speaker stands, monitor wedges, mic stand bag, cymbal bag on top

Everything to the rear is light and needed first; everything forward is heavy or fragile. Photograph the packed van from the rear once and pin the photo in the band chat; new members and deps learn the layout in a glance.

The two-minute load-out

The stage strike is where bands lose the most time, mostly because everyone packs their own things at their own speed while the drummer is still dismantling the kit. A strike order fixes it:

1. The moment the last note ends: singers and anyone without gear coil cables from the front of the stage and collect mic stands. Guitarists unplug and case instruments. Keys powers down and cases the keyboard.
2. Minute 2–5: drummer breaks cymbals and snare; a second person cases the shells as they come off. Bass player packs the mixer and stage box; one person pulls the snake.
3. Minute 5–10: the PA comes down last so the venue can play music if it needs to, and because it is the first thing back in the van after drums.
4. The van: one person inside the van placing, everyone else carrying. The person inside owns the layout and reads the packing checklist as items arrive.

Two minutes is the goal for getting cases from the stage to the exit; a whole load-out for a 5-piece with a small PA is 25–40 minutes from last note to van doors shut, if nobody stops to chat. Agree the rule: talk to the client after the van is loaded, not before.

Load-in, the mirror image

• Arrive with the van reversed to the door. Ten minutes finding the right entrance is common; ask for the load-in door and parking in advance and put it on the gig sheet, as in the day-of-show checklist.
• Unload everything to the stage edge before anyone starts setting up. Setting up while the van is half full blocks the door and doubles the trips.
• The last thing out of the van is the instruments; the first thing on the stage is the drum rug.

Driver rules

• The driver does not carry the heaviest items at 01:00; they need their back and their attention.
• Two drivers for anything over 2.5 hours home; see gig travel logistics for buffers and the overnight decision.
• Fuel, tyres, lights and the strap count checked in daylight, not in the dark car park.

Do this today

• Sketch your van layout on paper using the zones above, then load it once slowly and photograph the result.
• Weigh the full rig, or add up the case weights, and compare with the payload sticker.
• Write the strike order with names and put it on the gig sheet.
• Buy two more straps and four moving blankets; almost every band is short.

Where expert.band helps

The gig checklist in expert.band is designed to be read in the van: apply your kit, and each item has a quantity and a person, so the loader ticks things off as they go in and sees at a glance what is still missing and whose it is. Print the gig sheet from the gig page and it carries the load-in address, times and the list in one document.