Cities
Table of Contents
"Local" and "intercity" shifting sound like the same service at different distances, but the planning behind each is genuinely different — not just longer, but structured differently from the first phone call. Understanding this helps you ask the right questions when booking either one.
How the Vehicle Is Planned
A local move typically uses a vehicle for a same-day round trip, sized to your volume. An intercity move commits a vehicle (and often a specific crew) to a multi-day route, which is why intercity quotes are priced primarily on distance and volume together, rather than labour hours alone.
How the Crew Is Scheduled
Local moves are usually completed by a crew that returns to base the same day and can take another job tomorrow. Intercity moves often involve the same crew accompanying the shipment, or a coordinated handover at the destination — worth confirming when you book, since it affects both cost and how questions get answered mid-transit.
Paperwork Differences
A local move rarely needs more than a simple invoice. An intercity move should come with a Lorry Receipt (LR), a signed inventory list, and — if you've taken cover — a transit insurance policy document, since the shipment is out of your sight for days rather than hours. Interstate moves add route permits into this mix too.
Timeline Differences
A local move is typically planned and completed within a single day: survey, pack, load, deliver. An intercity move is planned across a longer window — survey and packing on one day, transit over several days, delivery on a scheduled date — which changes how you plan your own transition (utilities, work, school) around it.
Why an Essentials Box Matters More for Intercity Moves
Being without your belongings for a few hours during a local move is an inconvenience. Being without them for several days during an intercity move is a real planning problem — which is why a first-night essentials box (documents, chargers, a change of clothes, basic medication) matters even more the longer your transit window is.
Insurance Matters More the Longer the Journey
Transit risk is generally lower for a same-day local move than for a shipment on the road for several days across multiple states. That doesn't make local-move insurance pointless, but it does make intercity transit insurance a much easier decision to justify.