Small moves and flat shifts in Hamilton

One room's worth of gear is a job worth posting in Hamilton. Rooms in shared flats around Hillcrest and Silverdale turn over, and a bed, a desk and a stack of boxes shift a few streets or across to the older streets in Hamilton East. Then there are the couples leaving a central city flat near Victoria Street for a first house in Rototuna or Flagstaff, people shifting out of a rental in Nawton or Enderley at the end of a tenancy, and parents clearing the spare room and the garage in Chartwell down to what fits in a townhouse.

The river splits the city, so any east to west run has to cross it. Those runs funnel onto the Cobham, Victoria and Fairfield bridges, so a driver allows for the crossing when the timing lands near school or work traffic. Older streets in Hamilton East and Claudelands have long front paths, narrow drives and no room to swing a van. Frankton, Nawton and Enderley have rear units on shared driveways, and where that is the case the kerb is often the only realistic loading spot. Gully sections in Hillcrest and Glenview can mean a long flight of steps down to the door.

Each driver prices their own bid, so numbers on one Hamilton move rarely match. A driver based east of the river can bid to keep the job there, Hillcrest to Claudelands with no bridge crossing, while one coming over from Dinsdale or Nawton prices that crossing in. A run from Chartwell to Hamilton East is minutes of driving, so the bid is priced on the steps, the front path and the handling at each end. A van and one person costs less to run than a truck and a crew. Each bid shows the driver's profile and any reviews from completed jobs, and some are new with none yet.