What Is Backloading? How It Works on the Sunshine Coast
Backloading means your belongings travel on a removal truck that's already doing the trip, sharing the space with other smaller jobs heading the same way. You pay for the room your things take up, not for the whole truck. It suits smaller loads and people with some flexibility in their moving dates.
We get asked about it a lot. Usually over the phone, and usually by someone who has just priced a whole truck to Sydney for a bed, a couch and twenty boxes. Their next question is always the same: is there a cheaper way to do this? Quite often there is.
Backloading in plain English
You don't hire the whole truck. You pay for the space your belongings take up.
The name comes from the trucking game. A truck would drop a full load in Sydney or Melbourne and then face the long drive home with nothing in the back. It made more sense to fill that space with someone else's furniture than to haul fresh air up the highway.
These days the word gets used for any trip where a few smaller loads share one truck. You'll also hear it called a shared load. Same thing, different name. If you see both on our website, that's why.
How it works when you book with us
We plan our backloads by looking at who's moving where and when, then fitting several smaller jobs onto the one trip so each customer only pays for the room they need. Here's roughly how it runs.
1. You tell us what's moving
This is the bit that matters most. A backload is planned around space, so we need an honest list. Our Detailed Quote form lets you go room by room and adds up your cubic metres as you go. Don't forget the shed, the patio set and whatever is living under the house. Our guide on how to prepare and pack for a backload walks through the inventory step by step.
2. We find a trip that fits
Next we look for a run heading your way that has room for your load and lines up with your timing. This is where a bit of give on your dates really helps. A window of a few days gives us far more options than one fixed morning.
3. Pick-up day
Our crew turns up, wraps and blankets everything with quilted furniture pads and ties it down with lay-flat straps. That's the same care that goes into every move we do, shared or not. On the truck, each customer's load is kept separate with dividers.
4. Delivery
The truck works through its drops in order. Because other jobs are on board, your delivery is planned around the shared run rather than a time set aside just for you. We give you two weeks' notice of your pick-up and delivery day.
Where we run backloads
From the Sunshine Coast we backload to:
Sydney and country NSW
Melbourne and country Victoria
Adelaide and country SA
Darwin and Alice Springs
Brisbane and the Gold Coast
Queensland country towns
It works the other way too. Plenty of the people we move are heading home to the Coast, and the same trip planning applies coming north. The full list of routes is on our Backloading & Shared Loads page.
The Queensland side of things
People tend to think backloading is only for interstate moves. It isn't. Queensland is a big state and a lot of our work never crosses a border.
Think about the kind of jobs that come up. A uni student heading to Townsville with a bed, a desk and a dozen cartons. A couple downsizing out of a family home who want to send a few good pieces to family up in Mackay. A single wardrobe going to Bundaberg. None of those need a truck to themselves, and that's exactly the sort of load a shared trip is good for. If you're moving within the state, our country town removals page covers the regional runs.
Who it suits, and who it doesn't
Backloading is a good fit if you're moving a few items or part of a house, and your dates have some stretch in them.
It's usually the wrong fit if you're moving a full house on a fixed settlement date. In that case a dedicated truck, where only your goods are on board and the loading and unloading times are set, makes more sense. We wrote a separate piece on backloading vs a dedicated truck for an interstate move if you're weighing the two up. Our main interstate removals page explains how the dedicated service works.
What doesn't change on a backload
A cheaper trip doesn't mean cheaper handling. Your furniture still gets wrapped, padded and strapped. Our crew are employed, experienced removalists, not subcontractors.
Insurance is worth a mention here too, because people often assume. Armstrong Removals holds general freight insurance covering pick-up and set-down of goods. It doesn't include in-transit insurance. That's the same whether you book a shared load or a dedicated truck, so check your home and contents policy or arrange transit cover before moving day.
Frequently asked questions
Is backloading the same as a shared load?
For our purposes, yes. Both mean your goods share space on a truck with other jobs going the same way.
Who actually moves my things?
Our own employed crew. We don't use subcontracted removalists, and backloads never go through a depot or get transferred to another carrier.
How do you keep my things separate from other loads?
Each customer's load is kept separate on the truck with dividers, and everything is wrapped, blanketed and strapped.
How much notice do I get of my pick-up and delivery day?
We give backload customers two weeks' notice of their pick-up and delivery day.
How far ahead should I book a backload?
Book 4 to 6 weeks ahead where you can, especially if you're moving in school holidays or near the end of the year, when demand is highest.
Is backloading safe for my furniture?
Yes. Every move gets the same care. Your belongings are wrapped, blanketed and secured with lay-flat straps, whether you choose a shared load or a dedicated truck.
Got a smaller move coming up?
If you've got a few rooms or a handful of pieces to shift and some wiggle room on dates, tell us about it. Fill in a Quick Quote, send a Detailed Quote give us a ring on 0480 890 300, or contact the Armstrong Removals team. We'll tell you straight if a backload makes sense, or if you'd be better off with a truck of your own.
