What Removalists Won't Move (and What to Do With It Instead)
Every experienced crew has a short list of things that never go on the truck, no matter how nicely you ask. It is not us being difficult. Most of the list is safety and the rest is things nobody can protect, including us. Here is the honest version, and what to do with each item instead.
Anything that can go bang
BBQ gas bottles, camping gas, patio heater bottles, fuel cans, and the half a tank of petrol in the lawnmower. None of it goes on. Trucks get hot, roads vibrate, and flammables are exactly what the back of a truck should not contain. Insurance does not cover them, and frankly neither should yours.
Run the mower dry before moving day, or drain it into a proper can. Gas bottles travel best in your own car, upright, window cracked, on a day that is not 40 degrees. Or do what half of Sydney does: hand the bottle to a neighbour and buy a fresh swap at the other end.
The cupboard under the sink
Paint tins, pool chemicals, thinners, bleach, oven cleaner. Two problems: tins leak under load, and fumes in a closed truck have nowhere to go. A split paint tin in with your linen is the stuff of local Facebook group legend, and not the good kind.
NSW EPA runs free Household Chemical CleanOut events where you can drop old paint and chemicals properly. Anything still good and sealed can go in a box in your own car boot. Whatever you do, do not gift-wrap a mystery box of chemicals for the crew and label it 'kitchen'.
The freezer, or what is left of it
We will happily move the freezer. We will not move the 2019 lasagna inside it. Frozen food cannot sit in a truck for hours, and the defrost puddle finds everything. Empty it, eat what you can, bin the archaeology, and switch it off the night before so it drains properly.
This is the prep that makes the difference between a freezer that arrives fine and one that arrives smelling like a decision you regretted.
Plants: ask first
Pot plants are a maybe rather than a no. Soil shifts, branches snap, ceramic pots crack, and no insurer on earth covers a gum tree's feelings. Small pots usually ride fine in your own car. For larger plants, ask us before the day and we will tell you straight whether they travel well.
Pets: never in the truck
The back of a truck has no air conditioning, no windows and no room for a dog to change its mind. Pets travel with you, in a carrier, with water and a plan for the other end. On moving day itself, the kindest thing you can do for a cat or dog is have them somewhere else entirely. They will forgive you by dinner.
Carry these yourself, always
Cash, passports, documents, jewellery, medication, USB drives with the family photos. Not because anyone is untrustworthy, but because no moving insurance covers them meaningfully and because you will need the medication long before you find the box marked 'misc'. Keep one bag with you, like you are flying somewhere for two days.
The quick list
If you are packing tonight and skim reading, this table is the whole post:
| Item | Why it stays off the truck | What to do instead |
|---|---|---|
| Gas bottles | Flammable, trucks get hot | Your car, upright, or rebuy at the other end |
| Fuel and mowers with petrol | Fire risk in transit | Run dry or drain before the day |
| Paint and chemicals | Leak and fume risk | EPA CleanOut event, or car boot if sealed |
| Frozen food | Thaws in transit | Eat, bin, or esky in your car |
| Pot plants | No cover for damage | Small pots in your car, ask us about big ones |
| Pets | No air, no light, no thanks | Carrier, with you, or with a friend |
| Valuables and medication | Not covered by insurance | One bag that never leaves you |
If it can explode, spill, thaw, wilt or sue, it travels with you rather than with us. Everything else, we will handle with blankets, straps and a reasonable amount of care.
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