checking your access in France for Removal lorry

There are many things to consider when advising of the access for a removal vehicle for your removals to France. Most European removal companies tend to operate 18.75 Metre road trains for 2 reasons. The 1st is they can maximise on payload, therefore reducing costs on a shared/part load service. The 2nd reason is that road trains have the capability of splitting in half ( front half and trailer ). By uncoupling the trailer, the delivering vehicle reduces to a length of between 9-10 Metres. If the moving company is not familiar with the area you are moving to or from, they will be relying on information provided by yourself to establish if a safe route to your residence is possible.

Programs like Google Earth can assist to a point, they have the capability of showing a route to your residence. Unfortunately they cannot predict the many variables involved like heights of bridges, local markets days that may make it impossible to park. Local laws that restrict lorries between certain times or certain weight limits imposed.

Other factors are low power lines or telephone wires ( the vehicle will normally be 4 Metres high, 2.5 metres wide ). If possible take a car ride along the route you think is best for the collecting/delivering vehicle and take the factors mentioned above into consideration. You could ask the removal company to check the access on your behalf but this will normally be an extra charge ( we have agents across the UK and France who provide this service).

All removal companies leave the responsibility of checking the access with the client, so read the terms and conditions carefully, As some companies consider not having the capability of parking the whole road train 18.75m as bad access. We consider this unfair and only class not being able to park the front half of the vehicle at residence as bad access.

The Options available should the access to your residence  be considered bad, are smaller trans-ship vehicles hired locally or provided by a local moving company. If you are moving to France and are unsure of any of the above, feel free to contact us for further advice or assistance.