Man with a van in Hamilton

Van work here follows Hamilton's own rhythms. Flats turn over around the university, so in February a bed, a desk and a stack of boxes leave a Clyde Street villa in Hamilton East and land off Silverdale Road or in Hillcrest. Families selling the Beerescourt or Maeroa bungalow post the last load, the beds and the odd pieces the car could not take, on the way to a new townhouse at Rototuna, Flagstaff or Peacocke. A job can be one pickup and nothing else: a dining suite bought in Cambridge, a flat-pack run off the Te Rapa Road retail strip, a couch from a clearance yard in Frankton.

The river decides more than people expect. Hamilton sits on both banks, so a load from Nawton or Dinsdale over to Hillcrest has to pick a crossing, and drivers plan around the Cobham, Claudelands and Fairfield bridges and around Wairere Drive when the schools come out. Streets near the university park solid on both sides, and a van still needs somewhere legal to stop. Plenty of sections back onto a gully, which leaves the front door a couple of flights down from the road. New builds at Rototuna and Peacocke are easy enough to reach, though many sit behind a shared right of way with other cars parked on it.

Every bid on a Hamilton van job is priced by the driver who would do it, so the numbers rarely match. A driver already on the west bank at Nawton prices your Dinsdale pickup without a crossing in it, while one coming from Rototuna has to add the run over the Fairfield or Claudelands bridge before the job starts. Another is already running out towards Cambridge and would rather not come back with an empty van. Running a van with one person costs less than a truck and a crew, and a driver working alone can price on that footing.