I am moving interstate and was thinking of moving all my stuff myself since all the moving services are super expensive. I own a large Sedan. I was wondering if there is any law that prevents me from filling my car to the brim with personal items including a rolled up mattress, clothes, some furniture etc etc. Do you think ill be breaking any law by driving my vehicle on the high way in that state or risk being fined ?
Moving Interstate. How Much Stuff Can I Load up in My Car without Getting Fined
[Deactivated] on 14/07/2018 - 15:20
Comments
is it illegal to fill up all the cabin area obstructing the sight of rear view mirror ?
some vans don't have glass on their rear door too
None of our vehicles have useable interior rear view mirrors.
Really depends on how skilled you are at packing. I wouldn’t want to drive for an extended length without good rear visibility.
+1 to this. Never mind being fined - for the love of God, if you value your own safety at all (and that of others on the road), please DON'T pack your car up so much that you don't have decent visibility all round. We recently moved from Perth to Tasmania, we used a self-pack shipping container for the big stuff, then packed up everything else in our two cars (WRX and large Ford sedan) and drove from Perth to Melbourne. Believe me, you do NOT want to be in a situation with restricted visibility when you're out on those highways!
This. Also in a crash, all your stuff is going to fly forward.
Fill your car with your essentials and then get a professional moving service to do the rest.
If you stuffed the car tight enough, nothing would fly around and the whole thing would act as a big cushion against impact.
If you don't mind, can you tell me how much it cost you for the self pack shipping container. We are planning to move from Dubbo to a small town in West coas Tassie next month..
It cost us just over $6,000 for a 20ft shipping container from Perth to Hobart.. Moving to Tassie is always more expensive than moving between other states because of the cost of transporting stuff across Bass Strait. They dropped the container off at our place in Perth, we loaded it ourselves over a period of about a week, they then picked it up and transported it to Hobart, which took about 10 days. We didn’t have a house lined up at that stage, so the container went into storage with them for about 7 weeks (additional cost) and was delivered to our new address the day after settlement. Drivers at both ends were great, and extremely skilled at moving the containers, it was quite amazing to watch!
The initial moving cost included a period of 40 days between delivery of the container at the address you’re moving from and pick up of the empty container from the address you’ve moved to - the clock “stopped” when our container went into storage in Hobart and restarted when the container was dropped off at the new place in Tassie, so that gave us plenty of time to unpack - mind you, we had the container empty, swept out and ready to go in two days LOL.
We used a company called Budget Self Paclk Containers - they were great communication-wise, and very helpful and flexible when we had to change some of the dates as circumstances changed (they’re quite used to that!).
@SimbaGirl:
Wow. Thanks for the detailed information. We might actually consider selling our stuff here and buying new from Tassie.. Hope you are enjoying your new home in Tassie..@suchcha: You’re welcome :) . Still settling into the new place, but really enjoying it and loving the cold weather after Perth’s heat and humidity!
From what I can see I don't think there's a technical limit as long as everything is inside the car and not strapped onto the top.
In terms of weight - as long as you keep it under maybe 400-480kg (e.g. a full car load of people) should be no remote issues with tyres?
There will be a limit on the car. The GVM listed will be the max weight it is designed to carry.
If you are loading up check the tyre placard. At a full load you might need to put more air in the tyres.
I moved from QLD to NSW in a hatchback packed to the brim, but left just enough space to expose about a foot of the rear window. Had no trouble with police or anything, but the weight completely changed the dynamics of the car with very long stopping distance, sluggish from stops, etc. Just don't push it.
Sit at the exit to your local bunnings store to observe what people and cars are capable of carrying. Sometimes I'm very impressed indeed.
I think that as long as your load is secure and your vehicle is not over the GVM or Axle limits or Roof load limits then you should be okay. Also, if your car is sold and the suspension is worn hopefully your exhaust isn't scraping :)
I personally don't mind not having visibility of the rear through the rear view mirror as long as I have the side mirrors and the reversing camera for when parking.
You know that with a deliberately unsafe vehicle if you crash into another car and kill another road user you could be facing 20 years for culpable driving…
Might be a good idea to load the spare wheel and jack last so you don't need to unpack if you get a flat.
Have you tried uhaul ? From memory you can hire a trailer for 2 weeks and only pay about $300.
If there are more than one driver, why not buy a second hand suv, ute, etc. You can sell it afterwards.
As long as you have two functioning & usable external door mirrors your interior rear view is acceptably obsolete.
As long as your load does not impede any controls or driving function or the basic driving operation of the motor vehicle, and everything stays inside the vehicle, you are essentially doing the right thing. But…….the exceptions……Now go to the relevant traffic and transport dept authorities and find out exactly without relying on out humble opinions only. You need to explain your type of vehicle….exactly, your load exactly and from which state to which state, as differing laws/rules apply.
Sorta like …. how long is a piece of string, isn't it. Safe travels.
Keep all your belongings covered and strapped down within the sides of the roof and the length of the vehicle.
Get a cheap camera for when you get stopped by the hwp. Advise them when they stop you that you’re recording the interaction for legal purposes.