Luton van or low loader: which should you buy?

Here is the difference in practice. If you have a two-man crew loading a washing machine; in a Luton van, they will lift it up onto a high floor, then again onto the tail lift. Into a low loader, the floor sits lower, so every lift is that bit less punishing. Over a full day of white goods deliveries, that is the difference their backs will remember!

A Luton

• Has a body that extends forward over the cab, giving you that extra pod of space above the driver.
• Sits higher off the ground, with a taller load floor.
• Gives you the most cubic capacity, which suits light but bulky loads.

A low loader

• Has a dropped chassis and a lower load floor, so the step up into the body is much smaller.

• Often gives you a bit more height inside.

• Makes loading heavy or wheeled items far easier, because you aren’t lifting them as high.

How to choose

If you mostly move furniture, white goods, boxes and bulky light goods, a Luton's size is hard to beat. If you shift heavy items, use a pallet truck or load and unload all day long, a low loader's lower floor saves your back and speeds up every drop. Both are usually fitted with a tail lift, so you should check its condition and lifting capacity carefully, because it takes constant use and is expensive to replace.

Whichever you lean towards, check the payload once the body and tail lift are accounted for. A big box on a 3.5 tonne chassis can leave you with under a tonne to play with, so you should confirm what you can legally carry before you commit.

On Vangoo's platform, the condition is shown upfront so there are no surprises on collection.