Large freight, sorted.

Anything too big, too heavy or too awkward for a car or van courier. As a rule of thumb, if it needs a forklift, a tailgate, a pallet jack or two people to move it, it's freight.

The large freight portal covers:

• Pallets — single pallets through to full loads
• General furniture — office fitouts, retail displays, household items
• Building materials — timber, panels, fixtures, packs and lengths
• Machinery — crated or skid-mounted plant and equipment
• Irregular cargo — anything that won't sit neatly on a pallet
• Van load, half load and full truck load — when you need the whole vehicle

Not sure which one fits? Pick the closest option in the quote form and our freight team will confirm before dispatch.

A courier job is a dedicated vehicle going point to point, usually the same day. Large freight generally moves through a carrier network — your consignment is picked up, taken to a depot, consolidated with other freight, line-hauled to the destination city, then delivered on a local run.

That's what makes it cost-effective for heavy goods, but it also means the timing is business days rather than hours, and pickups and deliveries land in windows rather than at an exact minute.

If you need a fixed time or a direct run with no depot handling, book a van load or full truck load instead, or ask us about a dedicated vehicle.

We move freight between and within Australia's major metro areas — Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Canberra and the Gold Coast — plus regional and remote destinations through our carrier network.

Regional and remote lanes usually run to a set schedule rather than daily, so transit times are longer and cut-offs matter more. The quote will show the estimated transit for your specific lane.

Some goods we can't accept at all, and some we can only carry with advance notice and the right paperwork.

Generally not accepted: cash, precious metals and stones, live animals, firearms and ammunition, illegal or prohibited goods, human remains, and unpackaged perishables.

Accepted by arrangement only: dangerous goods, temperature-controlled freight, over-dimensional loads needing permits or escorts, and high-value consignments.

If you're unsure, ask before you book. Freight that's declared incorrectly can be refused at the depot, and you'll still be charged for the pickup.

Every freight rate assumes the driver arrives, loads or unloads, and moves on to the next job. When a vehicle sits idle, it's not just your job that's affected — it holds up the rest of the run and the linehaul departure behind it.

Each pickup and delivery includes a free allowance of 15 minutes for loading or unloading. Beyond that, waiting time is charged in 15-minute increments at $15 per increment.

The clock starts when the driver arrives on site and reports in, and stops when the freight is loaded or unloaded and the paperwork is signed.

Things that commonly trigger waiting time:

• Freight isn't packed, palletised or wrapped when the driver arrives
• The forklift or its operator isn't available yet
• Long queues at a warehouse dock or a security gate
• Site inductions or paperwork the driver wasn't told about
• Nobody on site who can authorise or sign for the freight

Freight is weighed and measured at the depot. If it comes back heavier or larger than declared, the job is repriced on the actual figures and the difference is added to your invoice.

This isn't a penalty — it's the same rate applied to what actually moved. But it can be a meaningful difference, especially on light-but-bulky freight where cubic weight does the work.

Bigger or heavier than expected can also mean the vehicle sent wasn't suitable, which can turn into a futile pickup and a rebooking for the next day.

Stackable freight lets the carrier load a second pallet on top, so your consignment uses one floor position and half the height. Non-stackable freight blocks that space entirely.

If your freight can't be stacked — because of a cone-shaped top, fragile contents, protruding parts or a "do not stack" requirement — it's charged for the full vertical space it occupies, generally by measuring the cubic to the top of the trailer rather than the top of your freight.

If your freight can take weight on top, tell us. It's often the single cheapest change you can make to a freight rate.

A futile job is when a driver attends as booked and can't complete the work through no fault of the carrier. The vehicle, the driver and the run slot have all been used, so the charge stands.

Common causes:

• Nobody on site, or the site is closed within the agreed window
• The freight isn't ready, or isn't there at all
• The freight doesn't match what was booked, and the vehicle can't take it
• No safe access for the vehicle, or no way to load or unload
• The receiver refuses the consignment
• The site requires an induction, permit or timeslot we weren't told about

If a delivery is futile, the freight returns to the depot and a re-delivery is charged for the second attempt. Refused or undeliverable freight may also attract storage and a return-to-sender charge.

Usually yes. Homes rarely have a dock or a forklift, streets can be narrow, and the driver often has to work alone with a tailgate and a pallet jack on an uneven driveway or nature strip.

Residential freight normally needs a tailgate lift and a hand unload, and a smaller rigid truck instead of a semi. Please flag a residential address at quote time so we price and dispatch the right vehicle from the start.

Often yes, but not always, and it will cost more. Once freight is in the network it's been sorted, labelled and allocated to a run, so a change means pulling it out and re-sorting it.

A redirection attracts a redirection charge plus any difference in the freight rate for the new lane, and will usually add at least a day to transit. If the freight has already been line-hauled to another state, redirecting may not be possible at all.

Cancel before a driver is dispatched and there's no charge. Once a vehicle has been allocated and is on its way, a cancellation fee applies, or the pickup charge, whichever is greater.

For a booked van load or full truck load, the vehicle is reserved exclusively for you, so cancellations on the day of the pickup may be charged in full.

Depots include a free storage period of two (2) business days from arrival. After that, storage is charged at $75 per pallet space per day.

This usually comes up when a delivery can't be completed, a receiver isn't ready, or freight is held awaiting a timeslot. If you know the receiver won't be ready, tell us before the freight arrives — it's cheaper to delay a pickup than to store a consignment.

Dangerous goods must be declared before booking, correctly classified, packed, labelled and accompanied by a compliant declaration and SDS. DG freight is charged at a higher rate because it needs compliant vehicles, segregation and trained handling. Undeclared DG is a serious safety and legal issue — it will be refused, and any costs are passed on.

Oversize and over-dimensional freight — anything beyond standard pallet dimensions or length limits — may need a specialised trailer, permits, pilot vehicles or restricted travel times. These are quoted individually rather than off a rate card.

Run through this for both the pickup and the delivery site:

• Vehicle size — can a semi, or only a rigid or small truck, physically get in and out?
• Height clearance — car park entries, awnings, gates, overhanging branches, basement docks
• Turning and reversing — is there room to manoeuvre, and a safe path to reverse?
• Ground surface — sealed and level, or gravel, dirt, sand or a steep slope?
• Parking — is there somewhere legal to stop? Clearways, bus lanes, loading zone limits and metered bays all matter
• Docks and lifts — dock height, whether it's booked, and whether goods lifts are available and big enough
• Site requirements — inductions, PPE, permits, sign-in, escorts, restricted delivery hours
• Hours — when the site actually opens and closes, including lunch closures

Put anything unusual in the notes field when you book. Details never cost you money; missing details often do.

Usually, but not automatically. Docks are built for a particular vehicle height, so a dock designed for a semi-trailer can leave a rigid truck sitting too low, and a low dock can leave a taller trailer unable to level up.

Also worth confirming: whether the dock is shared and needs booking, whether there's a queue at peak times, whether a dock leveller and pallet jack are available, and whether height clearance into a basement dock suits the truck we're sending.

Tell us the dock type and any booking requirement at quote time and we'll match the vehicle to it.

Many distribution centres, hospitals, shopping centres and large warehouses only accept freight in a pre-booked window, and turn away anything that arrives outside it.

Booking a slot takes time and locks the vehicle to a fixed arrival, so it's charged as a booking-in fee and can add a day or more to transit while we wait for an available window.

If your receiver needs a timeslot, an authority number or a purchase order on the paperwork, please tell us before the freight is picked up. Arriving without one is a futile delivery.

Yes, with notice. These sites often require inductions, specific PPE, escorted access, site-specific permits or restricted delivery hours — and drivers are turned away without them.

Let us know the requirements when you book. Site access conditions can add an equipment, labour or waiting charge, and we'd rather quote that upfront than discover it at the gate.

Standard freight delivery is to the kerb or the first accessible ground-floor point. Stairs, lifts and internal placement are extra services.

If freight needs to go inside or upstairs, ask us to quote a two-person or white glove service. Freight pallets generally can't go in a passenger lift at all, so we may need to break the pallet down — which is a labour charge and takes time.

These events are commonly described as force majeure — circumstances beyond the reasonable control of Zoom2u or our carriers. They include:

• Weather — storms, floods, cyclones, bushfires, hail, extreme heat, fog and snow
• Road and infrastructure closures — highway and rail closures, bridge damage, major accidents, roadworks, port and airport disruption
• Natural events — earthquakes, landslides, and the aftermath of a disaster even after the immediate danger passes
• Industrial action — strikes, stoppages and picketing, including at third parties in the chain
• Government and regulatory — border restrictions, quarantine and biosecurity holds, curfews, emergency declarations, road-access changes
• Public health events — pandemics, epidemics and the restrictions that come with them
• Civil disruption — riots, unrest, war, terrorism, sabotage
• Infrastructure failure — widespread power, fuel, telecommunications or IT outages

When one of these hits, transit time commitments and estimates are suspended for as long as the disruption lasts, and resume when the network does.

More often than people expect, and usually not where the rain is falling.

• Flooding closes highways for days at a time. Queensland and northern NSW routes are the usual pressure points in the wet season, and a single closure can back up a whole east-coast network
• Cyclones shut down northern operations entirely from November to April, before and after landfall
• Storms and hail stop tailgate work, open-tray loading and forklift operation on safety grounds
• Bushfires and smoke close roads and restrict travel across whole regions
• Extreme heat triggers driver fatigue rules and road-surface restrictions
• Fog, snow and ice slow alpine and inland routes overnight, which is exactly when linehaul runs

Freight sitting safely in a depot for an extra day is almost always the right call. We'd rather it arrive late and intact.

Yes. As soon as we know a consignment is affected, we'll contact you with what we know, what we're doing, and the revised estimate.

During a major disruption, be aware that the honest answer is sometimes "we don't have a new date yet". We'd rather tell you that than invent one. You can also check the current status any time through the tracking link on your consignment.

Because transit times are estimates on standard network freight, a late delivery on its own doesn't create a refund — and delays caused by force majeure, weather, holidays or site access aren't refundable.

What we will always do is investigate. If a delay came from something inside our control — a booking error, a missed pickup, a mis-sort — talk to us and we'll make it right.

If you're on a guaranteed dedicated-vehicle service, the specific terms of that service apply and are set out in your booking confirmation.

Yes, and these are worth knowing because they're often fixable:

• Paperwork — missing consignment notes, purchase orders, authority numbers or DG declarations can stop freight at a depot
• Timeslots — waiting for the receiver's next available delivery window
• Receiver not ready — site closed, no equipment, no one to accept
• Payment or credit holds on the account
• Damage inspection — freight pulled for checking before it goes further
• Peak volume — end of financial year, Black Friday, pre-Christmas surges

If we contact you about one of these, a quick reply is the fastest way to get the freight moving again.

No. Freight is carried under carrier terms with limited liability, which is not the same as insurance and typically covers only a small fraction of the value of goods.

Insurance is your responsibility. We don't offer in-house insurance, so if your freight is worth more than you'd be comfortable losing, take out transit cover with a third party provider before it's collected. It's inexpensive relative to the value of most freight, and it's the only way to be covered for full replacement value.

1. Note it on the POD at delivery — before the driver leaves, in writing. Sign "damaged" or "short" rather than clean
2. Photograph everything — the outer packaging, the pallet, the labels and the goods
3. Keep the packaging — it's needed to assess how the damage happened
4. Tell us within 7 days of delivery with the consignment number

Freight signed for clean and reported days later is very difficult to claim, because there's no evidence the damage happened in transit. If the receiver can't inspect at the time, have them sign "received unexamined".

Straightforward claims with good documentation are usually resolved in a few weeks. Claims involving a third-party carrier, an insurer or a disputed cause take longer.

We'll keep you posted, and the more evidence you can give us at the start — POD notes, photos, invoices showing value, packing details — the faster it moves.