Book a truck that's too small and you're paying for two trips. Book one that's too big and you're paying for air. After five years and a 20-truck fleet ranging from 25 to 60 cubic metres, here's the simple guide we use every day at Phoenix.
The quick rule of thumb
- Studio or 1 bedroom: a 25m3 pantech handles it comfortably in one trip, boxes included.
- 2 to 3 bedrooms: a 35 to 45m3 truck is the sweet spot for most family homes.
- 4+ bedrooms or acreage: our 60m3 big rigs, sometimes with a second crew, so it still happens in one day.
- Interstate: container trucks with trailers, so your whole household travels sealed in one load.
What most people forget to count
Garages, sheds, patios and the top of every wardrobe. The average Australian home holds 30 to 40 percent more than people guess, which is exactly why we quote from a quick survey rather than a guess over the phone.
The good news: you don't have to decide
Tell us what you're moving and we'll match the truck from our own fleet. No hire trucks, no subcontractors, just the right pantech with a trained Phoenix crew on board. It's one of the reasons our pricing stays honest: from $79.50 + GST per half hour, quoted upfront.
What a cubic metre actually looks like
Truck sizes are quoted in cubic metres of load space, which means nothing to most people until you see it. One cubic metre is roughly a standard washing machine with a bit of room around it. A 25 cubic metre pantech is about 25 of those, stacked properly by people who do it daily. That last part matters more than the number: a well packed 25 is worth a badly packed 40.
Room by room, roughly
If you want to sanity check a quote, add up your rooms using these working numbers. They are what we use before a survey confirms it.
- Main bedroom with a queen bed, robe and drawers: about 6 to 8 cubic metres.
- Child or spare bedroom: about 4 to 5.
- Lounge with a three seater, armchairs, TV unit and rug: about 8 to 10.
- Kitchen and dining, packed into cartons: about 6 to 8.
- Garage, shed and the patio setting: anywhere from 4 to 15, and this is the one that blows out.
Pantech or container truck?
A pantech is a rigid truck with a box body and a tailgate lifter, and it is what you want for a local move. It parks on a suburban street, the lifter handles the heavy pieces, and the crew can be unloading within minutes of arriving.
A container truck with a trailer is a different animal. Your household goes into a sealed container that is loaded once and not opened until it reaches the other end. For a Brisbane to Perth run that is the difference between your things being handled twice and being handled six times. Fewer handovers is the single biggest predictor of everything arriving the way it left.
Three mistakes that cost people money
- Quoting off the bedroom count alone. Two houses with three bedrooms each can differ by 15 cubic metres once you count the garage.
- Forgetting access. A 60 cubic metre truck is useless if it cannot get down your street. Sometimes two smaller trucks is the faster, cheaper answer, and we would rather tell you that than turn up and improvise.
- Booking the smallest truck to save money. A second trip across town costs far more in time than the size difference ever saved.
Let us do the maths
You do not need to work this out yourself. Book a free survey, in person or over video, and we will tell you the truck, the crew and the hours. With 20 trucks across Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Townsville and Perth, we are matching a vehicle to your home rather than fitting your home to whatever is left in the yard.
