Count the load
Inventory room by room and convert to cubic feet: 1.6 per small box, 5 per 18-inch carton. Two-bedroom homes land at 700-900, three-bedroom at 1,000-1,200.
Sizing and pricing a move
A two-bedroom flat typically fills 700-900 cubic feet, which puts the load at the very top of a 15 ft truck's band — and is why the next size up is almost always the right call. The bill is built from parts: line-haul by 500-mile band, a fuel surcharge that resets weekly, access charges, packing and a tip nobody puts in writing. Both questions break down into numbers you can check.
Three numbers to start
Scroll the strip sideways — 6 cards.
Inventory room by room and convert to cubic feet: 1.6 per small box, 5 per 18-inch carton. Two-bedroom homes land at 700-900, three-bedroom at 1,000-1,200.
Match the estimate to the bands: 750-1,000 cu ft in a 15 ft truck, 1,100-1,250 in a 17 ft, 1,400-1,700 in a 20 ft. Book the next size up.
Ask for line-haul, fuel surcharge, access and packing as separate lines. The fuel line alone moves weekly with the diesel average, at 15-25% of the haul.
Least-used rooms first, kitchen and daily items last, every carton labelled with room and priority. Materials are 20-40% of a pro packing bill, so this stage is the saving.
Stairs and any carry beyond about 75 feet are chargeable; an elevator in a building under four floors is usually the cheaper option. Declare both ends before moving day.
Direct cartons to their rooms, open the essentials box first, and have the cash tip ready — around 20% on a full-service move is conventional.
Transit is measured in weeks, not days: 4-6 door-to-door by air, 8-12 by sea.
| Vehicle, container or service | Capacity or rate | Typically covers | Planning note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 15 ft box truck | 750-1,000 cu ft | Two-bedroom flat | Little headroom; the 17 ft is the safer booking |
| 17 ft box truck | 1,100-1,250 cu ft | Two-bedroom plus garage, small three-bedroom | The standard next-size-up choice |
| 20 ft box truck | 1,400-1,700 cu ft | Three-bedroom home with loft | Oversizing costs less than a second trip |
| 20 ft ISO container | 33 m³ gross; 20-30 m³ loadable | International household shipment | Never plan against the gross figure |
| Small moving box | about 1.6 cu ft | Books and heavy items | Count cartons to build the estimate |
| 18-inch cube carton | about 5 cu ft | Bedding, lampshades, bulky light items | Light but fills volume fast |
| Air freight (international) | USD 6-10 per kg | Essentials, 4-6 weeks door-to-door | Cost climbs fast with weight |
| Sea freight (international) | USD 1-3 per kg | Bulk of the home, 8-12 weeks | The default for full households |
Most two-bedroom homes come out at 700-900 cubic feet once the garage and loft are counted.
The estimate starts with boxes, not rooms. A standard small moving box holds about 1.6 cubic feet and an 18-inch cube carton about 5, so every estimate is ultimately a count of cartons plus the furniture around them. That single number drives every later decision: the truck band, the container, half the quote.
Industry planning figures put a two-bedroom home at 700-900 cubic feet and a three-bedroom at 1,000-1,200, both including garage and loft space. The range is wide because storage areas are the swing factor — two flats with identical room counts can differ by a third once books, tools and seasonal boxes are included.
The working method is a walk-through with a notepad: furniture pieces and estimated cartons per room, multiplied out and summed. An underestimate at this stage is the single most common cause of a load that stops fitting at the garage door.
A 15 ft box truck holds 750-1,000 cubic feet, which is why a two-bedroom flat is borderline and the 17 ft is the safer booking.
Trucks come in capacity bands: a 15 ft box truck holds about 750-1,000 cubic feet, a 17 ft holds 1,100-1,250 and a 20 ft holds 1,400-1,700. Notice where the two-bedroom estimate lands — at the very top of the smallest band. That is why the next size up is almost always the right call.
The arithmetic of getting it wrong is asymmetric. Oversizing by one band costs a modest difference in daily rate; undersizing means a second trip, a same-day upgrade to whatever truck remains, or leaving the garage behind.
For an international move the same rule applies in metres. A 20 ft ISO container is 33 cubic metres gross, but household goods load to roughly 20-30 cubic metres because sofas and mattresses cannot be stacked to the ceiling like palletised freight. Planning against the gross figure overestimates capacity by a wide margin.
The figures here are the planning ranges the moving industry itself works with: box and truck capacities, distance bands, surcharge percentages and per-kilogram freight rates. They are reference values for budgeting, not a quote — the mover's own tariff governs the actual bill.
Where the figures come from
The reference figures on this page reflect standard industry planning ranges for truck and container capacity, distance-band pricing, fuel surcharges and international freight rates.