Part load or dedicated vehicle?
A part load shares a vehicle with other customers moving along the same corridor. You pay for the space you occupy, which is why it costs less. The trade-off is a delivery window rather than a named day, because the vehicle is being filled and routed around several consignments.
A dedicated vehicle is yours alone. It travels direct, on your date, and the price is flat regardless of whether you fill it. Above roughly 30 m³ (1,060 ft³) the two converge — at that point our quote engine prices both and recommends whichever is genuinely cheaper, and tells you when the dedicated option is worth the small premium.
How volume is measured
Everything is priced in cubic metres, and we show cubic feet alongside every figure — UK and European movers quote m³, while American firms and most shipping paperwork use ft³ — so a figure read in the wrong unit is out by a factor of 35. One cubic metre is just over 35 cubic feet.
A three-seater sofa is about 1.7 m³ (60 ft³), a double bed with mattress 1.7 m³ (60 ft³), a standard carton 0.11 m³ (4 ft³). A one-bedroom flat is usually 14–18 m³ (494–636 ft³) and a three-bedroom house 40–50 m³ (1,413–1,766 ft³).
Almost everyone underestimates. That is why our quote tool draws the actual vehicle and fills it as you add items — seeing the space left over is a far better prompt than a number, and it is the reason our surveyed prices rarely move.
| Vehicle | Capacity (m³) | Capacity (ft³) | Roughly |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sprinter van | 9 m³ | 318 ft³ | Studio flat, or a few rooms of boxes |
| 3.5 tonne Luton | 11 m³ | 388 ft³ | One-bedroom flat |
| 7.5 tonne | 31 m³ | 1,095 ft³ | Two to three-bedroom home |
| 26 tonne | 60 m³ | 2,119 ft³ | Four-bedroom house |
| road train | 90 m³ | 3,178 ft³ | Large five-bedroom house |
| articulated lorry | 110 m³ | 3,885 ft³ | Six-bedroom house, or two smaller moves together |
What else moves the price
Distance zone
Five bands from Benelux and northern France through to southern Italy and the islands. Ferry and tunnel costs are already inside the zone rate — you should not have to price a Dover crossing yourself.
Access at both ends
Stairs without a lift, long carries, narrow streets needing a shuttle, and parking suspensions. Stairs alone are £6 per m³ (£0.17 per ft³) per flight. We ask about these upfront so the price holds.
Packing level
Self-pack, fragile-only, or a full professional pack at £22 per m³ (£0.62 per ft³). Self-packed goods insure at 5% of declared value rather than 3%, because insurers price the extra risk.
Date flexibility
A ±10 day window saves 10% on a part load. A dedicated vehicle travels on the day you choose.
Customs
£180 for EU destinations, £320 for Switzerland, which sits outside the customs union and needs a clearing agent.
Why we survey before fixing a price
An online estimate is only as good as the inventory behind it. A free video survey — twenty minutes on a call, walking your rooms — turns the estimate into a fixed price. Once surveyed, we do not revise it upward on moving day. That is the entire point of asking the access questions early rather than discovering a fourth-floor walk-up on the morning.
See it for yourself
The inventory builder and the vehicle diagram are free to use. No details needed until you want the price.
Open the quote tool