What it actually costs in 2026
Pea Logistics' card rate on the SYD↔MEL lane is $125/m³ inc GST — what a standard 11–20 m³ load pays — with a $350 minimum for tiny consignments. Small part-loads price below the card and 20 m³+ loads earn a big-load discount, both applied automatically. The rate already includes goods-in-transit insurance to $20,000 and driver-assisted loading. Here's what that works out to for typical home sizes:
| Home size | Volume | Price inc GST | What that is |
|---|---|---|---|
| Studio | 8 m³ | ~$850 | Bed, sofa, desk, fridge, ten boxes — you'll share the deck with one or two other loads |
| 1-bed apt | 16 m³ | ~$2,000 | Queen bed, wardrobe, sofa, dining set, fridge and washer, twenty boxes |
| 2-bed homeMost common | 26 m³ | ~$3,050 | The most common move on this lane — a whisker over one truckload, so the tail end rides the next run unless you need one fixed date |
| 3-bed home | 36 m³ | ~$3,900 | Two truckloads — flexible dates mean you don't pay twice for the second one |
| 4-bed home | 50 m³ | ~$5,450 | Two full truckloads. Worth being flexible on this one |
For comparison, DIY truck hire — you drive a Penrith ute one-way — sits around $1,400, plus a couple of days of your time, the fuel, and the lifting. Backloading gets you a driver, insurance to $20,000 and no hire-yard queue, because you're paying for space on a truck that was already making the trip rather than for a truck of your own.
What moves the price up
The five things that bump your quote on this lane:
- Stairs at pickup or delivery. $80 for the first flight at each address, then $60 for every flight after it — a one-flight terrace pays $80, a four-storey walk-up pays for the extra carrying it actually takes.
- Weekend pickup. +$150. Many customers move on weekends; we run weekend trucks but they're more expensive to staff.
- Same-week urgency. +$200. Cancels any flexibility discount.
- Premium insurance to $50k. +$120. Worth it if you've got high-value antiques, art, or AV gear.
- Packing service. $45/m³. We come the day before and pack the boxes for you.
What moves it down
The biggest single lever is date flexibility. Choose "± 1 week" instead of an exact date and you get an automatic 10% off, because we can slot you into the trip with the most empty space. That's $310 off a 2-bed move, no haggling. The runner-up isvolume accuracy: we round up your m³ to be safe, so the more accurately you measure (or use our item list), the closer the quote sits to the bottom of its band.
Mid-week vs weekend
SYD→MEL trucks are fullest on Friday afternoons and Sunday nights — peak removalist season is the same as flight season. Booking a Tuesday or Wednesday pickup tends to mean shorter notice on the delivery side, more capacity, and the same price. Plus, less traffic on the Hume.
How long does it take
Pickup is normally 2–5 business days from booking. Transit is a single overnight — most loads picked up Tuesday morning deliver into Melbourne suburbs Wednesday afternoon. The driver calls you with their ETA on the day of delivery, from their direct mobile.
For live pricing by home size, transit detail and pickup windows, see the Sydney to Melbourne lane page — or Melbourne to Sydney if you're headed the other way; the two directions currently price the same.