High-roof van rental in Dubai
“High roof” is a sales word, not a measurement. Two vans sold under the same phrase can differ by half a metre inside. Here is the measured interior height of every vehicle we run, what stands upright in each, and the two heights that catch people out after they have booked.
The term
“High roof” is not a specification
There is no standard behind the phrase. It describes a roof panel that sits higher than the base model of that particular van — and nothing more.
Look up the interior height of a single model and you will find figures ranging from about 1.3 m to over 1.9 m, depending on the wheelbase, which roof option the factory fitted, and whether whoever published the number measured to the roof lining or to the bare metal. Two rental companies can both advertise a “high roof van” and hand you vehicles half a metre apart inside.
So ignore the phrase. The only figure that decides whether your load fits is the interior load height, measured floor to roof lining, and it should be published rather than described. Ours are below, and they are on every vehicle page too.
The height ladder
Every vehicle we run, by interior height
Our Toyota Hiace is the high-roof body — 1.6 m inside, against 1.34 m in the standard-roof version of the same van. That single figure is the whole difference, and it is why the same model can be sold to you as two very different vehicles. Every height below is the load area of the vehicle you would actually be given, floor to roof lining.
Interior load height, floor to roof lining
| Vehicle | Load height | What that gets you |
|---|---|---|
| Toyota Hiace | 1.6 m | The high-roof body. 1.6 m inside against 1.34 m in a standard-roof Hiace — the same van, half a metre apart in practice. |
| Nissan Urvan | 1.7 m | The tall panel van. Most washing machines and shorter fridges stand. |
| Ford Transit | 1.8 m | Our tallest dry van. A full-height fridge-freezer or a mannequin stands. |
| 3-Ton Chiller Van | 1.9 m | Taller still, but refrigerated — only worth it if you need the cold. |
| 5-Tonne Truck | 2.1 m | A box body. Wardrobes, shelving bays and display units stand upright. |
| 10-Tonne Truck | 2.4 m | You can walk about inside it. Exhibition builds and warehouse racking. |
Worth remembering when you picture the job: below about 1.8 m almost nobody is standing upright inside a van, they are stooping, and a long loading day feels very different at 1.6 m than it does at 2.1 m.
Height is only one of four figures that matter. Length, width and payload for the same vehicles are set out in van and truck dimensions in Dubai.
Before you book
Two heights people forget, and two they get wrong
The interior figure is the easy part. These are what turn a correctly chosen van into a wasted morning.
The door is shorter than the van
You do not load through the roof. Every panel van’s rear and side openings are lower than its interior height, because the roof curves and the frame takes up space. An item at 1.75 m can be defeated by a 1.8 m van if the aperture is 1.6 m. We do not publish aperture figures because they vary between individual vehicles — send us the item’s height and we will measure the actual van before you book.
The car park at the other end
Basement car parks, loading bays and mall service entrances all carry a height barrier, and it is signed at the entrance rather than online. A taller vehicle solves your loading problem and creates a delivery one. If the drop-off is underground, check the barrier before you choose the biggest thing on the list.
Tall does not mean long
Height and length are separate problems and people mix them up. A rolled carpet, a ladder or a curtain pole is a length question — it lies flat and a 1.6 m Hiace with 3.1 m of floor handles it easily. Reach for height only when the item genuinely cannot be laid down.
Some things should not stand up
A fridge-freezer travels upright by preference, and most manufacturers ask for it. A wardrobe, a bookcase or a display unit is usually happier flat and blanketed, whatever its height. Standing a tall item up in a moving van raises its centre of gravity and Dubai’s ramps and roundabouts will find that out.
Measuring
How to measure the awkward item properly
Most failed loads are measurement failures, not vehicle failures. Four numbers settle it, and people usually take one.
Measure height, width and depth, and measure them over the packaging rather than the product. Feet, castors, handles, a pallet base and a layer of bubble wrap all add centimetres, and they are exactly the centimetres that decide whether something clears an opening. A fridge quoted at 1.78 m is often 1.82 m boxed.
Remember that the rear door opening is shorter than the load space behind it. Every van has a header rail above the doors and a floor lip below them, so an item that would stand happily inside still has to pass through a smaller rectangle to get there. When a load is close to the limit, the aperture is what fails first, and the side door is usually smaller again.
Then measure the openings at both ends of the journey, not just the van. A flat door, a lift car, a stairwell turn and a gate can each be tighter than the vehicle, and there is no point choosing a van that takes an item the building will not.
Tilting helps less than people expect. Leaning a tall item back reduces its height, but only by trading it for depth: a slim wardrobe gains a lot, a deep fridge gains very little, and appliances that must stay upright cannot be tilted at all. If the numbers are within a few centimetres either way, send them to us and we will measure the actual vehicle rather than let you find out at the kerb.
Write the four figures down in the order height, width, depth and weight. That last one matters more often than height does, and the dimensions guide shows which vehicle runs out of payload first.
Securing
Loading something tall without it falling over
A tall item that stands in the van is only half solved. Keeping it standing for the whole journey is the other half.
Put tall items against the bulkhead, at the front of the load space, with their widest face against the wall. That is the most stable place in the vehicle and the furthest from the doors, so nothing can lean on a door catch or fall out when the doors are opened at the other end.
Strap them properly. A ratchet strap around the item and through the tie points, blanket or cardboard between the strap and any polished surface, and a second strap if the item is taller than it is wide. A strap that only stops it sliding forward does nothing about it tipping sideways, which is the way tall loads actually fall.
Build the rest of the load around them rather than behind them. Boxes packed tight along both sides of a tall item brace it far better than any strap alone, and a half-empty van is more dangerous than a full one because everything has room to move. If the load is light and loose, pack it forward and keep the gap at the doors.
Then think about the route. Speed bumps in a community, the ramp down into a basement and roundabouts taken at normal speed all tilt a van gently, and a 1.8 m wardrobe standing free will find that out. If an item cannot be secured upright, lay it flat and blanketed, which is usually the better answer for wardrobes, bookcases and display units in any case.
Outside height
The height of the van itself, and where it stops you
Everything above concerns the inside. The outside height decides where the van is allowed to go, and it is measured by a steel bar rather than a tape.
Height barriers appear at basement car parks, mall service entrances, hotel loading docks, some petrol station canopies and most gated residential parking. The sign at the entrance is the authority, and it is worth trusting: it is set for the lowest point inside, which may be a pipe or a duct well past the barrier rather than the barrier itself.
A taller body also means anything mounted on the roof counts. A refrigeration unit, a roof rack or a light bar adds to the figure, so the height that matters is the tallest point of the vehicle as it stands, not the specification for a bare van.
Ramps make the figure worse for a moment. A long van tipping down into a basement lifts its own roofline at the crest, and the clearance you measured on flat ground is not the clearance you have halfway through the turn. Take ramps slowly and straight, and treat a barrier that is only a few centimetres higher than the van as a barrier you do not pass.
When the barrier is lower than the van, the realistic options are to unload at street level and trolley the goods in, to ask the building whether a service entrance takes taller vehicles, or to take a smaller van and do two trips. Deciding that in advance costs a phone call; discovering it at the ramp costs the morning and sometimes the roof of the van.
The limit
When the answer is a truck rather than a taller van
There is a ceiling on panel vans, and it arrives sooner than most people think. Past it, the question changes shape.
Our tallest dry van is the Ford Transit at 1.8 m inside. Above that the next step is a box body: 2.1 m in the 5-tonne truck and 2.4 m in the 10-tonne. That is not simply more height, it is a different vehicle class, needing a heavy licence or one of our drivers, and needing a delivery point that a truck can reach.
So before stepping up, test whether the item really has to travel upright. Most furniture does not. Shelving bays, display units and flat-packed goods travel better flat, and a machine that must stay vertical, such as a fridge-freezer or some medical equipment, is usually the only genuine case for the extra height.
Count the items as well as measure them. One tall piece in an otherwise ordinary load is a reason to lay it flat and keep the van; a dozen of them, or a stillage that has to stay built, is a reason to take the truck and stop fighting the roofline. The tipping point is usually how many times you are willing to drive the same route.
If the item is both tall and awkward to carry, and the building has a lift that will not take it, the honest answer may be a specialist furniture lift rather than any of our vehicles. Tell us what you are moving and where it has to end up, and we will say which of ours fits, or that this one is not a job for a van at all.
High-roof van questions
Do you have a high-roof van?
Yes. Our Toyota Hiace is the high-roof body, which gives 1.6 m of interior height and 9.8 m³ of load space — the standard-roof Hiace is 1.34 m and 6.04 m³, so it is a genuinely different van despite the identical name. Taller again: the Ford Transit at 1.8 m, and above any panel van, a 5-tonne truck body at 2.1 m.
What is the interior height of a high-roof van?
There is no fixed answer, which is the problem. Published figures for the same model range from roughly 1.3 m to over 1.9 m depending on the wheelbase, the roof option and how the measurement was taken. Always ask for the measured load height instead of the description.
Will a fridge-freezer stand up in your vans?
A full-height one usually needs the Transit at 1.8 m. Shorter models stand in the Urvan at 1.7 m. Measure yours first — and remember the door opening is lower than the load area.
Will a double wardrobe stand upright?
Rarely in any van. Most are 1.8 m to 2.0 m and want a 5-tonne truck body at 2.1 m if it has to travel standing. Flat and blanketed in a Transit is usually the better answer, and cheaper.
Can a high-roof van get into a basement car park?
Not always. Height barriers are signed at the entrance and vary from building to building. The taller the vehicle, the more likely it is stopped, so check the barrier at the delivery end before you pick the biggest option — this catches out more bookings than the load itself does.
How do I know which one I need?
Send us the height, width and depth of the most awkward item and the address it is going to. We will check it against the actual vehicle, including the door opening, and tell you which one to take. That is a two-minute message, not a sales call.
Send us the tallest thing you are moving
Give us the height, width and depth of the awkward item and where it is going. We will tell you which vehicle takes it upright, whether it fits through the door, and whether the van clears the car park at the other end.