Van sizes in Southampton
Three van sizes are available to book: Medium, Large and Extra Large, which is a Luton. The size you choose affects the price, so it is worth picturing your things inside each one before you book.
Nothing is taken until your driver confirms. Pay them the rest when the job is done.
Medium van
A Medium van is the everyday panel van you see on most streets, with a loading space behind the cab that is taller than a car and long enough for a sofa. It is the van most local Southampton jobs use.
What fits: a student room, including the desk, a chair, a clothes rail and a stack of boxes. A studio flat with a single bed, a small sofa and a few boxes. A two-seat or three-seat sofa with room to spare. A washing machine or fridge freezer with a few boxes around it. Flat-pack furniture in boxes from a store. A marketplace purchase such as a wardrobe or a table and chairs.
What does not fit well: a full one-bed flat in one trip, a double bed with a mattress plus a sofa plus boxes, or anything that needs the height of a box van.
Large van
A Large van is longer and taller than the Medium. You can stand up inside it, and it takes furniture and boxes together without careful stacking.
What fits: a one-bed flat with ordinary furniture, meaning a double bed and mattress, a sofa, a wardrobe, a chest of drawers, a table and chairs and the boxes that go with them. A shared student house room with a lot of extra belongings. A small office of a few desks and chairs. Several large appliances at once. A big sofa and armchairs together.
It is the right choice when a Medium van would mean two trips. The bigger van costs a little more, but less than a second journey across the city.
Extra Large van (Luton)
The Extra Large van is a Luton, with a tall square box body behind the cab and a section that sits over the cab roof. It is the biggest van a driver can bring.
What fits: a two-bed flat, or a small house with the usual furniture in every room. A family's worth of boxes and beds. A full small office with desks, chairs, filing cabinets and screens. A shop's stock and fittings. Anything tall, such as a wardrobe that would need laying down in a smaller van.
A Luton needs more room to park and turn, so read the parking guide before you book one for a narrow street or a city-centre address.
How to choose
- Count the big items. Beds, sofas, wardrobes, appliances, tables. Each takes its own patch of floor and they rarely stack.
- Count the boxes. Boxes fill the gaps, but a wall of them needs the length of a Large van.
- Think about height. Wardrobes, bookcases and fridge freezers go upright in a Luton and on their side in anything smaller.
- Allow for stairs. The van size does not change the carrying, but the loading time you book should.
- If in doubt, go up a size. One trip in a bigger van is cheaper and calmer than two trips in a smaller one.
Helpers and heavy items
The driver loads and unloads with you in the time you book. For heavy two-person items, choose a driver who can bring a helper, or have a friend ready at each end. Tell the driver about sofas that need tilting through doors, American fridges, pianos and anything over a flight of stairs. They would rather know before they arrive.
Which service are you booking?
A house removal usually means a Large van or a Luton. Single items and furniture fit a Medium. Student moves are nearly always a Medium van unless two housemates share the trip. Business moves vary from a Medium for stock to a Luton for an office. The prices page shows how the size feeds into the total, and the home page has an overview of the whole service.
Nothing is taken until your driver confirms. Pay them the rest when the job is done.