Falkirk occupies an interesting logistical and geographical predicament. It's close enough to both Edinburgh and Glasgow that locals and outsiders alike forget it's an independent town in its own right with its own transport challenges. Whether you're moving house, carting goods to a stall, or moving a piece of furniture across the Forth – sooner or later, you'll need a van you don't necessarily own, daily van hire.
This is something nobody warns you about until it's too late: price on van hire in the Falkirk and surrounding area can vary wildly 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, booking a Tuesday off is more likely to get you a considerably cheaper deal on the identical vehicle at the local outfitter to Callendar Park and environs.
Size seems to be a far bigger issue than anticipated for some. A short-wheelbase van 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, getting rather hot under the collar. Measure your load properly and then measure it again. Check it a third time and add some extra room – nobody's boxes ever stack as you'd imagine.
It goes without saying really that, on average, local companies know the roads that better than one of the larger national firms. Falkirk's town centre one-way system 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 that little bit more for and regret skimping on later. An "excess" will often get charged to a significant degree over a clipped mirror from a tight squeeze in an IKEA or other car park – spending a little extra here will more than cover this.
Fuel policy should also be flagged, since it varies a lot. Check before you set off and return it at the required usage: either topping it up yourself or paying their standard refuelling charge.
Weather, for a lot of people in Scotland, factors heavily into rental choices – Scottish rain does not care if the van is hired on or around a designated house move day – nor does it care about what condition the interior might end up in in terms of any moisture retained, and certainly not something as basic as road grip or clear visibility on either its windows or side mirrors in poor conditions.