Dear Mary Ellen,
I have to RAVE about my new Toyota Sienna XLE for a harpmobile. My poor old Chevy Suburban was nearing 200,000 miles and dying a slow and expensive death. I decided to buy my first new car at the age of 43 as I am on the go with my harp gigs, students, and my three kids. I perform frequently and move my harp between 1-4 days a week and travel a bit depending on the season and how many rehearsals I have before a concert. Let me tell you how much I LOVE my new car!
The console is beautiful and comfortable for a shorter woman to reach. The Mc- factor is excellent all the way back to the third row with cupholders in convenient spots. It has automatic door opener buttons on the remote key chain and within the car. Both side doors and the hatchdoor open at the touch of the button. The back third row folds down completely into the cargo space.I lay down a plastic patio lounge chair pad and I load the harp in on its’ column . I slide it in between the two captains chairs where I pad around the harp with a body pillow so it is snug between the seats.There is hardly a lip where the back hatch closes but my pad is long enough to cover it while moving the harp. I move my harp with the column, bass, and full travel covers for padding and security for every gig.
I

I have an older Odyssey (98) and love it.

I had always heard that column loading was safe and perfectly okay to do.

I don’t know where you learned to move a harp. From all I know and have experienced and been taught, it should lay flat on the side without discs, fully and evenly supported like on a mattress larger than the harp, not on lumpy uneven pillows. The side has to be protected from scraping and bumps as well. Having it lay on the column exposes the neck to flexion and torsion if it is not rigidly held still and encased. It is a problem when so many cars are not long enough, but don’t compromise the harp’s safety! I did see a handyman’s van, who had installed pegboard along the side. This seems to me like a good set-up, so with a pad between the harp and the wall, you can strap it at multiple points, but still, this would not be so stable, and would create stress where-ever the straps were.

Back when most of us drove station wagons, I loaded my harps lying flat, disc side up, on a pad or mattress and that was fine. I’ve been using minivans since 1989 because they have more room than today’s smaller wagons and use the space more efficiently. I’ve been loading on the column since then and have had no problems with any of my harps, and technicians who regulate them say they’re fine. That said, I do use a padded cradle which holds the column just below the crown, so there’s no pressure on that part of the column. I also use cushions under the base and on both sides so the harp is protected from bumps and cannot move. My husband and I have built the same system for several of my friends. If they’d had problems or damage, I’m sure they would have told us.

There are more details to this system than mentioned above, but my point is that so many people have been loading on the column for so long that, if it were bad for the harp, the resulting problems would have appeared by now. If you are careful and know what you are doing, either method of loading should be fine. As long as you are happy with your method, it’s good.

The reason I don’t agree is that a neck replacement is not something that would show up immediately. It may seem like normal aging when in fact it has been hastened by on-column transport. Unless the whole harp is rigidly fixed in place, you are leaving its knee-block, the most vulnerable part of the harp, unsupported. I think it is far wiser to err on the side of caution. If you can move it in its trunk on the column side, that would seem safe. I would like to be reminded, does the higher floor of the van make it easier to load or harder than a lower station wagon floor?

As for the pick-up truck, you forgot to mention adding the chains, jacks and shovels to pack around the harp!