The short answer
Book a 5 ton for a full apartment or a three-bedroom villa where the load is furniture and boxes. Book a 7 ton when the load is bulky rather than heavy: a four-bedroom-plus villa, warehouse pallets, or anything that would otherwise take two runs. A single 7 ton trip is almost always cheaper than two 5 ton trips once you count the driver hours and the second round of loading.
What fits in a 5 ton
A 5 ton bed comfortably takes the contents of a two to three bedroom home: sofas, beds, wardrobes, a fridge, a washing machine and thirty to forty boxes. It is the workhorse size for villa-share moves in Al Barsha and Mirdif, and for construction and joinery loads coming out of Al Quoz.
What fits in a 7 ton
A 7 ton adds bed length and height rather than just weight capacity. That matters for long items: three-seater sofas, wardrobe carcasses, mattresses stacked flat, ladders, pipes, scaffolding. If your inventory list has several items over two metres, the 7 ton is the honest choice. It is also the size we send for warehouse and exhibition cargo where goods are on pallets and need to stay upright.
Weight is rarely the deciding factor
Household goods run out of space long before they run out of weight. Very few home moves get anywhere near five tonnes of actual mass, so the real question is volume and item length rather than tonnage. The exception is building material such as tiles, cement, marble and steel, where weight does bind first and the larger truck is required by load rating.
Access can overrule the maths
A 7 ton truck needs room to turn and a clear approach to unload. Tower loading bays in Dubai Marina, JBR and DIFC often cap vehicle height or length, and older Deira and Bur Dubai lanes will not take one at all. In those cases two 5 ton trips is the only workable plan, or a 5 ton plus a shuttle. Tell us the building when you book and we will say which truck can actually get there.
How to decide in one minute
- Count items longer than two metres. Three or more points to a 7 ton.
- Count bedrooms. Up to three, a 5 ton. Four or more, a 7 ton.
- Ask whether the load is dense material rather than furniture. If yes, the 7 ton for load rating.
- Check the building. Narrow lanes, height-limited bays or basement access mean a 5 ton regardless.
- If two trips look likely with the smaller truck, book the larger one once.
Still unsure? Describe the load on the booking form and a dispatcher will tell you which size to take before anything is confirmed.