Quick summary (October 2026): A typical man and van job is booked for about 3 hours. Across the last 500 man and van jobs booked with The Van Man Co, shorter jobs were booked for about 2 hours and longer ones for about 5, and about half were 3 hours or less. A local job within the same postcode area was typically booked for 2 hours 15 minutes, and a job going further afield for about 5 and a half hours. The booked time is loading plus driving, and with The Van Man Co the driving includes the driver’s travel to the pickup and back from the drop-off, so on most jobs the driving is the bigger part. These are the times customers booked, and a job can run shorter or longer on the day. To see drivers and prices, start with the Bristol man and van page.
How long a man and van job takes matters for two reasons. You need to plan your day around it, and the price is based on it.
Most answers to this are guesses by house size. I’d rather show you what people actually book, so I went through our last 500 man and van jobs and looked at how long each one was booked for.
One thing to be straight about first: these are the times booked, which is what the price is built on. We don’t record how long each job took on the day.
How long does a typical man and van job take?
About 3 hours. That was the typical booking across our last 500 jobs, and here’s how the rest were spread:
| Time booked | How many of the 500 |
|---|---|
| 2 hours or less | About three in ten |
| 3 hours or less | About half |
| 4 hours or less | About two thirds |
| 6 hours or less | About eight in ten |
| Over 8 hours | About one in ten |
So most man and van work is a morning or an afternoon, not a full day. The long ones are nearly always long drives, which I’ll come to.
Where the time goes: loading and driving
The booked time is made of two things, loading and driving. On a typical job, an hour was booked for loading and about an hour and twenty minutes for driving.
The driving is the part people don’t expect. With The Van Man Co, it isn’t just your journey. It includes the driver’s travel from their base to your pickup, and from your drop-off back again, because that’s the real shape of the job for the driver. On just over half of our jobs, more time was booked for driving than for loading.
| Loading time booked | How many of the 500 |
|---|---|
| 30 minutes or less | About one in seven |
| 45 minutes to 1 hour | About four in ten |
| 1 hour 15 to 1 hour 30 | About one in seven |
| 2 hours | About one in five |
| Over 2 hours | About one in eight |
Going by what people told us they were moving, half an hour of loading is usually a sofa or a couple of pieces of furniture, an hour is a room’s worth, and two hours or more is a properly full van. Jobs with a helper had more loading booked, typically an hour and a half, because they’re the bigger jobs.
Where does your driver need to go?
How long do you need the driver at each end?
A rough guide to the total time for loading and unloading.
- Few items: 30 mins to 1 hour
- Studio flat: 1 to 1.5 hours
- 1-bed flat: 1.5 to 2.5 hours
- 2-bed house: 2.5 to 4 hours
Every move is different. Stairs, parking and big or awkward items all add time. If unsure, round up.
Extra loading and unloading time is charged by the hour.
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How long does a local job take compared with a long-distance one?
Distance changes the answer more than anything else. About six in ten of our jobs stayed within the same postcode area, like one part of Bristol to another. The rest went further.
| A shorter job | A typical job | A longer job | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Local (same postcode area) | 1 hour 45 | 2 hours 15 | 3 hours |
| Further afield | 3 hours 45 | 5 hours 30 | 8 hours |
The loading booked was the same for both, typically an hour. The difference is all driving: about 50 minutes on a typical local job, and nearly 4 hours on a typical longer one. A long-distance job is a long job even when it’s two sofas, because the driver has to get there and get back.
How long does a job take by van size?
Bigger vans are booked for longer, mostly because there’s more to load.
| Van | A shorter job | A typical job | A longer job | Typical loading time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Medium (Ford Transit Custom) | 1 hour 45 | 2 hours 45 | 4 hours 45 | 1 hour |
| Large (Ford Transit) | 2 hours 15 | 3 hours 15 | 5 hours | 1 hour 15 |
| Luton | 2 hours 30 | 4 hours 15 | 5 hours 45 | 2 hours |
As a rough guide to which van that is, a furnished studio or 1 bed flat usually goes in a large van and a furnished 2 bed in a Luton. Our van size calculator shows your own things loaded into each one. Picking a van that’s too small is the quickest way to make a job longer, because it means a second trip.
What makes a job take longer?
- Not being ready. This is the big one. If the driver arrives and you’re still packing or deciding what’s going, the clock is running while you finish.
- Stairs and access. There’s no separate charge for stairs with us, but every flight adds loading time, and so do narrow hallways and tight corners.
- Parking. If the van can’t stop near the door, every trip to it takes longer. Parking is your responsibility at both ends, so if you need a permit or a bay suspended, your local council is where to ask.
- Taking furniture apart. Drivers can usually handle basic dismantling, like beds and wardrobes, but it varies by driver and adds to the loading time. Doing it the day before is often the better use of the time.
- Extra stops. About one in ten of our jobs had a stop on the way, to collect or drop something else. Each one adds driving and loading.
- Traffic. The same route takes longer at rush hour. For a longer drive, it’s worth a look at National Highways travel updates the day before.
Flats bring their own delays, mostly lifts and long carries. There’s more on that in flat moves vs house moves.
What happens if the job runs over?
The price is an estimate based on the time booked. If loading takes longer than the time quoted, the extra time is charged at an hourly rate. It’s fairly straightforward, and it’s why it pays to describe the job properly: what’s going, which floor, where the van can park.
Playing the job down to get a shorter booking doesn’t really work. You pay for the extra time on the day anyway. Our guide to how much a man and van costs shows what these booking lengths came to across the same 500 jobs.
What time do most jobs start?
Mornings. About half of our last 500 jobs had a pickup between 9am and midday, and a quarter between midday and 3pm. Fewer than one in ten started before 9am, and about one in six started after 3pm.
If your job is one of the longer ones, an earlier start gives you more room if something runs over. There’s more on choosing a slot in our guide to the best time of day to move house.
How we worked these figures out
The figures come from the last 500 confirmed man and van jobs booked with The Van Man Co. Cancelled and refunded jobs are left out, and so are full removals jobs, which are quoted separately. Times are rounded to the nearest 15 minutes.
A “typical job” is the one in the middle: half were booked for less time and half for more. A “shorter job” is the point a quarter of jobs came in under, and a “longer job” is the point a quarter came in over. The times are what was booked, not what happened on the day, because we don’t record that. About three in ten of these jobs started in Bristol, where we’re based.
If you want a time and a price for your own job, you can see local drivers on the man and van page for Bristol or anywhere else in the UK.
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FAQs
How long does a man and van take for a 1 bed flat?
A furnished 1 bed usually goes in a large van, and our large van jobs were typically booked for about 3 hours 15 minutes, with about an hour and a quarter of that for loading. A longer drive adds to it.
How long does a man and van take for a 2 bed house?
A furnished 2 bed usually needs a Luton. Our Luton jobs were typically booked for about 4 hours 15 minutes, with about 2 hours of loading. Bigger homes can take most of a day, or a second trip.
Does the booked time include the driver getting to me?
Yes. With The Van Man Co, the time and the price include the driver’s travel to your pickup and back from your drop-off. On just over half of our jobs, more time was booked for driving than for loading.
What is the shortest man and van booking?
About three in ten of our jobs were booked for 2 hours or less. Those are mostly single items or small loads going a short distance.
What if the job takes longer than booked?
If loading takes longer than the time quoted, the extra time is charged at an hourly rate. Being packed and ready when the driver arrives is the simplest way to avoid it.
