How to Rent a Trailer in South Africa: A Step-by-Step Guide
Everything you need to know before you rent a trailer: choosing the right one, checking your licence and vehicle, booking, collecting and returning it without stress.
Renting a trailer is one of the easiest ways to move furniture, take rubble to the dump, carry garden refuse or bring home a big purchase — without buying a trailer you will only use a few times a year. This guide walks you through the whole process, from picking a trailer to handing it back.
1. Work out what you need to carry
Start with the load, not the trailer. Ask yourself:
- What is it? Furniture, boxes, building material, garden refuse, a motorbike, a car or livestock all need different trailers.
- How big and how heavy is it? Measure the largest item and estimate the total mass. A trailer has a maximum load (its payload), and your car has a maximum it may tow.
- Does it need protection? Furniture and boxes are better in a closed or covered trailer if there is any chance of rain.
Not sure which type fits? Read our guide What Type of Trailer Do You Need?
2. Check your licence and your tow vehicle
Before you book, make sure you are allowed to tow the trailer and that your vehicle can do it safely:
- Your driving licence code decides how heavy a trailer you may tow. In general, heavier trailers need a code EB licence — see Can Your Car Tow a Trailer? for the details and official sources.
- Your vehicle’s towing capacity is in the owner’s manual. Never go over the manufacturer’s limit.
- A tow bar and working electrical socket are needed so the trailer’s lights and indicators work.
On Trailer To Go, every trailer shows the licence category it needs, and you confirm your licence before you can book.
3. Find a trailer near you
Go to Find a Trailer, enter where you are and the dates you need it, and filter by trailer type. Open a listing to see its photos, size, load capacity, licence requirement and the owner’s collection area.
The price you see is the trailer’s day rate. Your total is the day rate multiplied by the number of days: every started 24 hours counts as a day, with a minimum of one day. You see the full total before you confirm.
4. Book it
Choose your collection and return times, confirm your licence category and complete the tow-vehicle check (a photo of your tow hitch, or the details and photos of the car you will use). Read the rental and cancellation terms shown on the booking screen, then confirm. The booking appears in your account on the website and in the Trailer To Go app — it is the same booking.
5. Collect the trailer
At the moment all trailers on Trailer To Go are self-collect: you fetch the trailer from the owner and bring it back. (Delivery and collection by approved drivers is coming soon.)
At collection:
- Take the handover photos in the app — all four sides, the tyres and anything already damaged. This protects you and the owner.
- Check the tyres, the coupling, the safety chain and that all the lights and indicators work once it is hitched.
- Make sure the coupling is locked onto the tow ball and the jockey wheel is fully raised.
6. Load and drive carefully
Put the heaviest items low and over the axle, tie everything down and never exceed the trailer’s maximum load. Drive slower than usual, leave a longer following distance and take corners wider. Our towing and road safety guides cover this in more detail.
7. Return it on time
Return the trailer clean, empty and at the agreed time. The owner checks it and confirms the return in their app, and you can then rate each other. If something went wrong during the rental, use Report a problem on the booking so our team can help.
Quick checklist: right trailer for the load · licence code checked · tow capacity checked · tow bar and lights working · handover photos taken · load tied down · back on time.
Ready? Find a trailer near you.
