Relocating homes is always a big challenge for prospective homeowners, regardless of whether you’re moving interstate or intrastate. One crucial factor that could make or break the success of your move is your chosen removalist.
In Australia, there are removalist companies that specialise in one of two areas of expertise: local relocation and interstate relocation.
Both these types of removalists seem fundamentally similar in that they function as a means to get your belongings from point X to point Y. However, the differences and experiences in hiring both are far more nuanced than they may appear at a glance.
Besides the difference in distance these removalists cover, there are other variables that can vary significantly between these two types of removalists. And if you’re moving anytime soon and planning to hire one for the job, then it’s important that you’re fully informed about these differences.
Without further ado, let’s take a look at some of the key differences between local and interstate removalists.
What do Removalists Do, Exactly?
Removalists are more than just box transporters. They perform a variety of physical and logistical tasks to make moving from place to place (like Kingscliff to Sydney) much simpler compared to the people moving.
Here are some of the services that removalists of all types generally offer:
- Pack your belongings: Removalists help pack bulky and fragile items with utmost care to ensure they don’t break or fall apart during transport.
- Disassemble and reassemble furniture: Removalists take apart beds, tables, and other large furniture pieces to preserve items during the move, then reassemble them in their new place.
- Load and unload items to the truck: Removalists carry your belongings in boxes and load them onto their truck, minimising the need for you to do backbreaking physical work and instead focus on other less strenuous aspects of the move.
- Transport your belongings: Removalists, once all your belongings are loaded into the truck, bring them from point A to point B as instructed by you beforehand.
- Offers moving perks for convenience: Removalists offer packing supplies, cleaning services, storage services, and furniture disposal upon request at a slightly higher fee.
- Insures their clients: Removalists may offer to insure your assets while in transit as part of their service charge. This grants peace of mind knowing that your items are cared for.
- Vacate the old home: Removalists perform one last sweep to ensure that there’s nothing left behind that’s unaccounted for.
Whether you’re planning to hire Sydney removalists or Melbourne-based removalists, these professional services will likely offer the above services as part of their service. These services are also offered across the board, whether you’re dealing with a local or interstate removalist.
That said, be sure to clarify it with them in writing to ensure that you’re both on the same page and in agreement with the terms before they start with the job. This way, you won’t encounter any problems or incur surprise expenses once the work is ongoing.
What are Local Removalists?
Local removalists specialise in serving people who are moving to a new space within the same city or town. This can be a home, office, or apartment building.
This service is usually capped to people moving within a radius of less than 100 kilometres, but this can vary depending on the removalist company’s defined area as well as geographic boundaries.
For example, local removalists from Melbourne would only serve customers within Melbourne and neighbouring towns, whereas Sydney removalists would only serve Sydneysiders, and so on.
Local removalists may also serve specific states extending beyond the 100-kilometre radius. For instance, they can promote statewide transport services in all of New South Wales and not just in Sydney.
In essence, these removalists help reduce the physical (and logistical) gruntwork of a person moving within the city or town. Its logistics are fairly standardised and set in place due to the company’s familiarity with local laws and routing.
What are Interstate Removalists?
Interstate removalists, on the other hand, offer moving services that extend beyond the origin point of the moving service. For example, people planning to move from Brisbane to Sydney or Melbourne to Adelaide would benefit from these removalists.
These removalists provide services that allow people to move their belongings anywhere across the country, regardless of the state they’re coming from or their final destination.
This style of moving is naturally more complex than local moving jobs as it covers a wider range of destinations, entails more transport resources, and deals with additional logistical regulatory obstacles.
That said, in many cases, interstate removalists offer more professional services due to the nature of their work. They know how to coordinate with clients, ask the right questions, and ensure that your belongings are protected during the long journey.
4 Key Differences Between Local vs Interstate Removalists
While local and interstate moving companies share many operational similarities, there are a few differences that set them apart from one another.
Let’s explore these four key differences in greater detail.
Regulatory Authority
One major difference between local and interstate removalists is the governing body overseeing them. All types of removalist companies operate under a business structure, first and foremost.
This means that for them to operate within their region, they need to have all the licenses and legal requirements for running a company in Australia. They must also comply with city and state-level regulations at all times to ensure they’re working within the bounds of the law.
Interstate removalists must comply with the specific safety, insurance, and operational standards of federal-level regulatory bodies, namely the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) and the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR).
These governing bodies manage the transportation of goods across state lines and ensure safety for their citizens, drivers, and passengers.
Conversely, local removalists will have to pay closer attention to city and state-level guidelines. These laws may differ from state to state, so it’s essential for moving companies to familiarise themselves with local laws to ensure that they’re fully compliant with them.
Flexibility
When sending out goods to a different state, the rules surrounding it are more rigid.
This is because of the various standards and guidelines that are set up for compliance reasons in various states and regions, which are often bound by time and weight. This makes the transport of goods less flexible.
On the other hand, local removalists have more freedom to accommodate timing or furniture changes if they’re only doing a local transfer. This is because the move is generally in the same state and wouldn’t require as much documentation and bureaucratic processes to fulfil.
Distance and Logistics
Another major difference between local and interstate removalist services is the distance and level of involvement in the transportation logistics.
Naturally, moving items in bulk to a different state will require detailed logistics and route planning if you’re doing it on your own. But even for these moving companies, they’ll have to coordinate with clients closely and ask important questions to ensure that the scheduling and transport needs for the specific job are met.
Furthermore, in the case of interstate transport, the long distance between destinations also makes multiple trips more of an inconvenience. This makes one-time transport more important than ever, which is often why these companies send out large trucks to fulfil a client’s moving needs.
The time it takes to conduct interstate transport tends to span longer than local transport, usually covering multiple days.
Pricing Structure
Another big difference between local and interstate removal services is the price of the service. Local moving jobs are typically less costly than interstate moving jobs.
This, intuitively, makes a lot of sense—these local services cover less ground, don’t have to deal with securing permits to cross states, and can easily fit multiple hauls in a day.
To add to that, local moving jobs also have a different pricing structure compared to interstate removalists. They’re charged by the hour, whereas most interstate removalists charge for the entire project based on distance, weight, good classification, and other criteria.
So while local moving rates tend to be priced cheaper, the final budget can be somewhat more unpredictable than interstate moving rates.
Of course, the final call on the price is ultimately dependent on the business’s own terms, but the aforementioned structures are the usual expectation for these business types.
With a Master in Architectural Studies from University of Pennysylvania, Marwa Haydar has pioneered living spaces since 2005. Her expertise, initially honed in a prestigious architectural firm, is evident in her approach to creating environments. Marwa became part of our team in 2019 and has since been a driving force in our home improvement section, known for her practical yet stylish solutions. She’s been spearheading our design workshops since then, infusing her passion for teaching into her work. In her leisure time, Marwa enjoys exploring historic architecture and is an enthusiastic pottery hobbyist, further enriching her understanding of form and texture.
