Moving Day Parking and Truck Access in Melbourne

Where the truck parks is one of the biggest single influences on how long a move takes. Every extra metre between the tailgate and the front door is walked hundreds of times over the course of a day, in both directions, carrying things.

In much of Melbourne — narrow inner-city streets, clearways, permit zones, tight apartment frontages — parking is something to arrange, not something to hope for.

Work out what the truck actually needs

A removal truck needs more room than a car, and more than people picture:

• Enough kerb length to park and to open the tailgate or extend a ramp behind it
• Overhead clearance — low branches, awnings, power lines and car park entries all matter
• A reasonably level surface to work a trolley across
• Turning room to get in and out again, which is what catches people on narrow one-way streets

If your street is tight, say so when booking. A smaller vehicle making two trips is often faster than a large one that can't get near the property.

Council permits

Most Melbourne councils can issue a temporary parking permit that reserves kerb space for a move. Rules, fees and lead times vary by council, so check with the one covering your address — the City of Melbourne, Yarra, Port Phillip, Stonnington and Moreland all handle this differently.

Things worth confirming when you apply:

• How much notice is required — some need several business days
• Whether you need to place signage in advance, and who supplies it
• What it costs
• Whether the zone has clearway restrictions that override the permit at peak times

Clearways are the one to watch. A clearway isn't a parking restriction with a fine attached — vehicles get towed. If your street is a clearway between 4pm and 6pm, the move needs to be finished and away before then, or parked somewhere else entirely.

If you can't get a permit

Plenty of moves happen without one. A few things help:

• Ask the neighbours. Most people are happy to leave a gap for a morning if you ask the day before. This is the highest-value five minutes in the whole exercise.
• Park your own cars in the spot overnight and move them when the truck arrives.
• Start early. Kerb space at 7am is a different proposition from kerb space at 10am.
• Use the driveway if it's wide and firm enough — check for soft lawn edges and low eaves first.

Apartments and unit blocks

If you're in a building with a loading dock, the dock usually needs booking, and there's almost always a height restriction — commonly between 2.5 and 3.5 metres, which excludes larger removal trucks entirely.

Basement car parks are almost never an option for a truck. Assume no unless building management specifically tells you otherwise.

Get the height limit and pass it to your removalist before the day, so the right vehicle is allocated. More on this in moving out of a Melbourne apartment.

What a long carry costs you

"Long carry" is the industry term for distance between the truck and the door, and it's a real cost, not a surcharge for its own sake. If the truck parks forty metres away instead of five, every single item travels an extra eighty metres round trip. Across a three-bedroom house that's hours.

This is one of the most common reasons a quote changes on the day — see why removal quotes change. Describing the parking situation honestly up front means it's priced properly rather than discovered.

Don't forget the other end

All of this applies equally at the address you're moving into, and that's the one people haven't stood in front of yet. Before the day, find out:

• Is there kerb space, a driveway, or a dock?
• Are there permit or clearway restrictions?
• What's the carrying distance to the door?
• Any gates, steps, narrow paths or low branches on the way in?

A photo from the agent or a look on street view answers most of it in about two minutes.

A quick pre-move check

1. Confirm parking at both addresses.
2. Apply for permits with enough lead time.
3. Check clearway hours on both streets.
4. Confirm any dock booking and height limit.
5. Tell the neighbours.
6. Pass all of it to your removalist before the day.

We move across the CBD, the inner suburbs and the wider metropolitan area and are used to working around tight access. Our local removals page covers the areas we service, or tell us about your street and we'll let you know what vehicle suits.