Moving Long Distance: What Changes and What Does Not
A long distance move is one where the crew and your belongings are away overnight. This guide uses our own moves from Sussex, from Norfolk at 164 road miles to Perthshire, about 400 miles north as the crow flies, to show how the days run, when storage comes in, and what to ask before you book.
The quick answer
Usually: Two or three days, the drive is the short part
Dates don’t meet?: Into storage, delivered on the date you need
Plan for: The far end, the lane, parking, the last yards
One crew: Both ends, nothing handed to another firm
We’re based near Ashington in West Sussex and cover the whole country: our crews have taken Sussex homes to Norfolk, Cheshire, Somerset, County Durham and Perthshire.
What Changes Over Distance
Distance alone doesn’t define it. A move becomes long distance when the crew, the lorry and your belongings are away overnight, with no second van to send back for anything left behind. On a local move, a problem at the far end costs an hour; on a long one it can cost a day, as our Arundel to Taunton story puts it. Hundreds of miles from base, any wait keeps a lorry, a crew and their hotel rooms idle, so long moves are planned around time, not mileage.
Local move, long move
Home by evening on a local move; away overnight on a long one.
It’s also why mileage alone doesn’t set the price. Which? names the amount of goods as a key cost, with distance, crew size and packing also playing a part. On a long move, the quote turns on volume, access at both ends and how many days the crew and lorry are needed; our pricing page explains how we work it out.
How We Run a Long Distance Removal
Our Midhurst to Cheshire move is a typical example: about 220 miles, three days, and a family who had packed most of the house themselves.
A three-day move, day by day
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We load, taking furniture apart as it comes out, and leave your essentials until last so you have a final night in your own beds.
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We collect the essentials, drive, and start unloading; the crew stops overnight near the new house.
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We finish unloading and rebuild the furniture.
From our Midhurst to Cheshire move story.
On every long move, the crew who load in Sussex unload at the other end, and nothing is handed to another firm on the way. The load comes off in the order the new house needs it, because it went on in reverse. And whether it spends the night sealed on the lorry or in our containerised storage is decided at the survey, not on the day, as our Arundel to Taunton move story explains.
Can It Be Done in One Day?
Sometimes, but the drive is rarely what decides it. On our Billingshurst to Norfolk move the road distance was 164 miles, a little over three hours’ driving on routing data. The rest of the two and a half days went on packing, loading, unloading and placing.
Driving against everything else
Billingshurst to Norfolk, 164 miles: 3 hours 13 minutes of driving against about 16¾ hours of everything else, counting the two and a half days as eight-hour working days.
From our Billingshurst to Norfolk move story. Drive time is the outbound leg, from routing data, without traffic; the rest assumes eight-hour working days.
The law sets a limit too. We hold a goods vehicle operator’s licence. Lorries run on a tachograph and vans follow van rules, so a lorry’s driving and working hours are recorded, not estimated. For lorries over 3.5 tonnes, the GOV.UK drivers’ hours guidance sets out these rules:
Drivers’ hours for lorries over 3.5 tonnes
- 9 hours’ driving a dayExtendable to 10 hours twice a week.
- At least 45 minutes’ breakIn one or more breaks, after no more than 4½ hours at the wheel.
- 11 hours’ rest every dayTaken within each 24-hour period, with limited exceptions.
- Loading counts as workWorking-time rules count loading and unloading, not just driving.
Sources: GOV.UK on drivers’ hours, daily rest and working time.
On our Midhurst to Cheshire move, about 220 miles was roughly four and a half hours behind the wheel, not a long day on its own; everything that isn’t driving fills the rest. Put a full day’s loading in front of a long drive and a single day stops being a plan. Squeezing a two-day job into one is how things get broken, and how crews arrive too tired to place furniture properly.
When the Dates Don’t Line Up
The day you leave one house and the day you get the keys to the next don’t always match, and GOV.UK notes that being part of a chain can make the process take longer. When there’s a gap, your belongings wait in our containerised storage at our Ashington warehouse and travel on the date the new house is ready.
Store, then deliver on your date
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We load at your old home on the day you have to leave.
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Everything goes into sealed timber containers of about 250 cubic feet each at our store.
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The containers stay closed until the new house is ready.
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The same crew brings it out and delivers it.
From our storage page and our Petworth to Weardale move story.
The gap can be short or long. A West Sussex house waited seventeen days in our store before going north on our West Sussex to Perthshire move, picking up a second collection for the same family in Worcestershire on the way. A house near Petworth went into store in the autumn and came out four months later for a 321-mile run to County Durham. If you need somewhere to live in the gap, see our guide to living between homes.
Access at the Far End
Most access problems are in the final stretch to the door, and on a long move there’s no fixing them once the lorry has set off. On our Midhurst to Cheshire move it was the Sussex end: the house sat off a narrow lane, a single articulated lorry wouldn’t have got down it or had anywhere to turn, so three smaller lorries went instead. The same check matters just as much at the far end.
Size the lorry to the lane
A lorry too big for the lane can’t get to the house at all. Three smaller ones that fit it can.
Tell us about both ends when we survey. Which? points out that heavy or tall lorries can’t always cope with steep gradients, tight bends, height or width restrictions or uneven roads, and suggests checking for parking problems at the other end, since you may need to contact the council to have parking suspended.
What we check at the survey
- Both endsWhere a lorry can stand and turn, parking restrictions or timed access, and the last hundred yards to the door.
- Your datesBoth completion dates, and whether anything needs storing in between.
- What comes apartThe beds, wardrobes and tables we’ll dismantle, so the same crew can rebuild them.
- The first eveningWhat you’ll want first at the new house, so it comes off the lorry first.
From our Arundel to Taunton move story.
Our Long Distance Removals
Each of these left Sussex with one of our crews, and each has its own move story; the shortest, to near Salisbury, is here for comparison.
Our moves by road miles
Road miles, and the days each job took. The move to near Salisbury was a packing day and a moving day; Weardale’s three days were the delivery out of our store, after the house was packed and collected in the autumn.
- Chichester to near Salisbury61 miles, moved in a day after a packing day, to a period cottage with a turning staircase; anything that wouldn’t fit was settled before the lorry left.
- Billingshurst to Norfolk164 miles over two and a half days, with ten large potted evergreens in the load.
- Midhurst to CheshireAbout 220 miles and three days, using three lorries because of a narrow lane.
- Arundel to TauntonTwo and a half days, planned as three phases, with the lorry loaded in reverse for the new house.
- Petworth to WeardalePacked in the autumn, stored over the winter, then 321 miles to the North Pennines.
- West Sussex to PerthshireSeventeen days in our store, then about 400 miles north as the crow flies, with a second collection on the way: five working days from our store to the cottage and back.
What to Ask Before You Book
Which? suggests getting at least three quotes, preferably from firms that visit the property rather than estimating over the phone, and checking what happens if the move is delayed and how long you have to make a claim. On a long move, ask these five as well.
Five questions to ask long distance removal companies
- Is it one day or more?And where does my load stay overnight?
- Does my load travel on its own?A shared lorry is harder to re-date if your completion moves, because other people’s belongings are on it too.
- Is it the same crew at both ends?The people who loaded it know what’s in which box and what was taken apart.
- What if my completion date moves?If you can’t get into the new house that afternoon or the next day, where does the load wait?
- Will you survey the far end too?A firm that has only seen your current home hasn’t seen where its lorry will stand at the new one. We ask about access and parking at both ends when we survey.
On our own moves, your belongings travel with one crew from the first box to the last, nothing is handed to another firm, and storage covers any gap in the dates. For moves to Europe, our European removals page explains the choice between a dedicated load and a part load. For choosing a firm more generally, see questions to ask a removal firm and the red flags to look for.
What to Keep With You
At this distance the van isn’t coming back for anything left behind, and if the load arrives after you do, the bag in your car is your first night. Which? suggests moving anything especially expensive or sentimental in your own vehicle.
What travels in your car
- Documents and keysPaperwork for both houses, and every key, labelled.
- Medication and chargersEnough for the first night and the next morning without opening a box.
- First-night beddingSo the beds can be made before anything else is unpacked.
- ValuablesJewellery and anything sentimental or irreplaceable.
Our guide to planning a house move suggests one clearly marked box that travels with you in the car, with everything you need for the first night and morning, and has the full list of who to tell and when.
What Doesn’t Change
The packing is the same at sixty miles or four hundred; the planning is what changes. Glass and china go in packing paper, never towels or clothes, drawers travel empty, and polished furniture is blanket-wrapped, with nothing plastic straight onto the finish.
Fittings travel with the piece
Each bed, table and wardrobe keeps its own fittings, so it goes back together days and hundreds of miles later with nothing missing.
From our Midhurst to Cheshire move story.
If you’d rather not pack at all, our full packing service does the whole house, and our fragile packing service covers just the breakables.
Moving Abroad Instead
Moves overseas follow the same method with more paperwork and a higher packing standard: our export packing uses vapour-barrier film and desiccant for sea freight, and custom timber crates for the heaviest and most delicate pieces. See our pages on international removals and export packing, and our guide to when antiques need a crate.
Planning a Long Distance Move?
Where to go next
- House removalsFull house moves from Sussex, local or nationwide.
- StorageSealed containers at our Ashington warehouse when the dates don’t meet.
- PackingThe whole house, or just the breakables.
- Europe and further abroadRoad moves to Europe, and overseas moves packed for the journey.
Moving a long way from Sussex?
Book a free survey, by video or at your home, and you’ll typically have a fixed, itemised price within 24 hours of the survey.
We’re fully insured, and a LAPADA Approved Service Provider for antiques and fine art.
Jack Wolfe
Director, Wolves Removals · Ashington, West Sussex
Jack runs Wolves Removals, which has moved families and businesses across West and East Sussex, Surrey, Hampshire and Kent since 2016 from its Ashington base. The firm is fully insured, Checkatrade-verified and a LAPADA Approved Service Provider for antiques and fine art. More about us, or read our reviews.
Frequently Asked Questions
Sometimes, if the load is small and the drive is short. For a full house it usually can’t: loading, driving and unloading all count towards the working day, and a lorry over 3.5 tonnes is normally limited to 9 hours’ driving a day. Our long distance moves usually run over two or three days.
Either sealed on the lorry or in our containerised storage, and which one is decided at the survey rather than on the day. The load isn’t moved to another vehicle or handed to another firm part-way, and the crew who loaded it unload it.
Your belongings go into sealed timber containers at our store and come out when the new house is ready, delivered by the same crew. The gap can be days or months: one of our loads waited seventeen days, another a whole winter.
On our own moves, 164 miles to Norfolk took two and a half days, about 220 miles to Cheshire took three days, the 321-mile delivery from our store to County Durham took three days, and Perthshire five working days from our store and back, including a second collection on the way. Volume and access at both ends matter as much as the miles.
As early as you can, and certainly once you have a likely completion date, because a long move ties up a crew and a lorry for more than one day. Our Midhurst to Cheshire move was quoted about seven weeks before moving day.
