Man with a van in Nelson and Richmond

The jobs that come up here are rarely one big item. A room's worth out of a flat in Toi Toi into a place up Washington Valley. A bed, a desk and six boxes for a student flat off Nile Street. Tools and offcuts going out to a build in Marsden Valley. Stall gear from Montgomery Square back to a shed in Stoke. A cot and a pram out at Māpua, picked up by a driver already running that way. Any of these can be two or three short runs in the same morning rather than one long trip.

Almost nothing here is a straight run. Between town and Richmond a driver chooses Whakatu Drive or the slower crawl through Annesbrook and Stoke, and the better choice depends on the time of day, so a driver asks about your start time. Some driveways off Atawhai Drive drop away below the road, which decides where a van can sit. The streets climbing out of Nelson South and Toi Toi were laid out for smaller vehicles. Most places here are ground level or up a flight of stairs, so a Nelson job comes down to steps, a narrow hallway and how far from the door the van can stop.

Bids differ because nothing on SoundMove is a fixed rate. Drivers price against their own week. Someone with a run booked into Richmond or out to Motueka can add a short Nelson job to a trip they were making regardless. A driver booked over the Whangamoa to Blenheim can price a return load against that same trip. One person in a van costs less to run than a truck with a crew, so work that needs one pair of hands gets priced that way. Drivers price what they can see in the listing, so the steps, the trips and the carrying are what a bid is built from.