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How Long Does a Long Distance Removal Take? Sussex Moves by Distance, and Why Some Need Two Days

How long does a long distance removal take? From Sussex, it comes down to how far a removal lorry can legally travel in a day. A driver can drive no more than nine hours a day, with a 45-minute break after four and a half, and lorries over 7.5 tonnes are limited to 60 mph even on the motorway, and 40 mph on Scottish single carriageways. Add a morning of loading, and a move from Brighton or Horsham to the north of England or Scotland often becomes a two-day job. Here is how long each kind of move takes, how firms run them, and how to plan completion day around the lorry.

Why a long move takes longer than the drive

A car can do Brighton to Edinburgh, well over 400 miles, in a long day. A loaded removal lorry cannot, for three reasons:

• Drivers' hours. Goods vehicles over 3.5 tonnes generally fall under the drivers' hours rules: a 45-minute break after 4.5 hours of driving, nine hours of driving a day (ten hours, twice a week), and 11 hours' rest between working days, which can be reduced to nine hours up to three times between weekly rests.
• Speed. GOV.UK sets the limits for goods vehicles over 7.5 tonnes at 50 mph on single carriageways and 60 mph on dual carriageways and motorways in England and Wales. In Scotland it is 40 mph on single carriageways and 50 on dual carriageways. Most large lorries are also fitted with limiters set at 56 mph.
• Loading. A three-bedroom house can take most of a day to pack and load, and the crew's day starts long before the first mile.

The result: anything up to the Midlands is usually a one-day move. Beyond about 250 miles, expect either an overnight stop with your belongings on the lorry, a second driver so the vehicle can keep moving within the rules, or a load day followed by a delivery day.

The three ways firms run a long-distance move

If you go with a part load, get the delivery window in writing and ask what happens if it slips. Our removal storage guide covers storage costs and contents cover.

What the extra day does to the timetable

Time drives the price on a long move because the quote is built from crew days and vehicle days. The practical choices that change the timetable are:

1. Pack the day before. A packing day adds a crew day, but it frees the whole of moving day for loading and the drive, which can turn a two-day move into one on routes to the Midlands or the North West.
2. Get an accurate survey. If the firm underestimates the volume, the lorry fills early and the timetable collapses. A survey in person or by video matters more on a long move than a local one.
3. Check access at both ends. Long carries, flats with no lift and narrow lanes in the Weald all slow loading and unloading.
4. Avoid Fridays if you can. Friday completions are popular, and a slow chain on a Friday afternoon can push delivery into the weekend.

For prices, our long distance removal costs page has the cost bands and the part-load savings in detail.

Plan around completion day

On a long move the legal timetable and the lorry's timetable can pull against each other. Completion usually happens around midday, but it can slip into the afternoon if a chain is slow. If you need to be out of your Sussex home on completion day and cannot get the keys at the other end until the next day, your goods spend a night on the lorry or in store. Ask before you book:

• Is an overnight on the vehicle covered by the firm's insurance, and is the lorry kept in a secure yard?
• What does it cost if completion is delayed and the crew has to wait or come back?
• Can they load the day before completion to give themselves the whole of completion day to drive?

Our moving house checklist sets out what to do in the final weeks.

Checks before you book a long-distance remover

• Trade association membership. Members of the British Association of Removers follow a Code of Practice approved by the Chartered Trading Standards Institute, are audited each year, and offer independent dispute resolution. Any prepayment you make to a BAR member is protected by its Advance Payment Guarantee scheme, for moves within the UK and to or from the UK.
• Goods-in-transit cover. Ask what the limit is per item and in total, whether it is new-for-old, and whether items you pack yourself are covered.
• A written inventory. On a part load or a store-and-deliver move, a numbered inventory is how you prove what arrived.
• Who does the driving. Some firms subcontract long legs. Ask whether the same crew loads and unloads.
• Deposit terms. Be wary of large deposits paid to a firm that is not in a guarantee scheme.

Moving into Sussex from far away

The same rules apply in reverse. If you are moving to Sussex from Scotland or the north, book a Sussex-based firm for the delivery end or a firm from your area with a network partner here; either can work. Lanes in rural West Sussex and parts of the High Weald are often too narrow for a large lorry, so a shuttle van at the delivery end may be needed. Our moving to Sussex guide covers where to live, schools and transport.

Sources: DVSA, Drivers' hours: goods vehicles; GOV.UK, Speed limits; British Association of Removers (bar.co.uk). Checked 22 October 2026. Back to the Move Sussex homepage.