Hornsby's long, steep driveways.
Plenty of homes here sit well below the road, down a drive a loaded truck should not attempt. We work that out first, then park where it is safe and shuttle the load up.
- Your driveway checked before the truck is chosen
- A shuttle van where the pitch is too steep
- Cover confirmed before you pay anything
The driveway comes first
Blocks below the street
Much of the housing around Hornsby is set back and set down. The front door can sit several metres under the kerb, and the last stretch of drive is the hard part.
The carry runs uphill
Going out, every box travels up the slope rather than down it. That is slower than flat ground, so we size the crew for the climb while quoting.
A shuttle van helps
Where the four tonne pantech cannot get down safely, a smaller van runs between your door and the truck up top. Two vehicles, one price.
Removals on a Hornsby block
Hornsby and the streets around it are bushland blocks. Houses sit back from the road and often well below it, down a drive that bends and drops. Access decides the day.
So we ask about the drive before anything else. Its length, its worst gradient, and what waits at the bottom. Our moving house checklist covers the rest.
Measuring your own driveway
Walk it once. Count the paces from the kerb to the door, note where it turns, and look hard at the steepest section.
When the truck stays up top
If the drive is narrow, sharply pitched, or ends in a space too tight to reverse out of, the pantech stays on the road. The load then moves in stages, which is ordinary work here.
Retaining walls and steps
Many blocks reach the door by steps beside the drive. Count the flights and say where they begin, because a flight outdoors counts the same as one indoors.
| Tell us | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Length from the kerb | Sets the carry, and whether a shuttle saves time. |
| Worst gradient and turns | Decides if a loaded truck can go down at all. |
| Surface and width | Gravel and single-width drives change the vehicle. |
| Space at the bottom | A truck needs room to turn, not only to arrive. |
Pricing a sloping block
Rooms set the vehicle. The driveway sets how the load reaches it. Both are settled while you book, so the number holds.
| Factor | Effect on the price |
|---|---|
| Rooms and volume | Sets the truck and base crew, studio to six bedrooms. |
| Driveway gradient | A steep drive means the truck waits at the top. |
| Shuttle runs needed | More trips between the door and the truck. |
| Steps to the door | Counted at the quote, the same as indoor flights. |
| Distance between homes | A move inside the shire beats a cross-city run. |
| Included | Detail |
|---|---|
| Dedicated truck | Yours alone, never a shared load. |
| Driver plus offsiders | Two to three haulers on a full home move. |
| Shuttle vehicle | A ute or van where the drive rules out the pantech. |
| Dismantle and reassemble | For the pieces you flag when booking. |
Before you book
- Roughly how long your driveway runs
- How steep the worst section gets
- The heaviest single item in the house
Cheaper if you can: clear cars off the drive and cut back anything hanging over it.
Photos help: one from the kerb looking down, one from the door looking up. See Sydney removal costs.
To book: quote online at picup.com.au/bookings, or call 1300 174 287 for a larger home.
Hornsby, by the numbers
Google rating and review count pulled June 2026. The 50,000+ figure counts residential jobs since 2020.
Hornsby removals FAQs
Can a pantech get down my drive?
Often, yes. A four tonne pantech needs firm ground, room to turn at the bottom, and nothing hanging lower than its roofline.
Gravel is what usually rules it out, because a loaded truck digs in and then struggles to climb back out, and rain makes that worse. Single width drives are the other one, since there is no room to open a tail-lift and walk beside it. Tell us the surface as well as the slope.
What is a shuttle, and does it cost more?
It is a smaller vehicle that ferries the load between your door and the truck parked up on the road. Those runs sit inside the fixed price, so nothing is added later.
Two vehicles sounds like double the cost, and it is not, because the pantech stands still while the van works. What it does change is the number of haulers, since one loads at the top while another fetches from the bottom. That gets decided when you book.
Everything has to come up the hill. Slower?
Yes. A loaded trolley climbing a slope takes longer than the same walk on the flat, and the pace drops as the day goes on.
The answer is people rather than hours, so a third hauler goes on where the climb is long. Order matters too. Heavy, awkward pieces come out while everyone is fresh and the boxes wait until later, which is why we ask for the heaviest thing in the house.
There are steps beside the drive, not a path.
That is fine, and it is common on a bushland block. Steps take a trolley badly, so the crew hand-carries that stretch and works in pairs.
The detail that changes the plan is whether a flight turns partway up. A straight run is quick, while a landing with a corner means long pieces get tipped and swung, and a wardrobe might have to come apart first. A photo looking up from the bottom answers it in one go.
Do you cover Hornsby for home moves?
Business deliveries run across Hornsby today. For a home removal, send your address and the date you have in mind, and we will confirm cover before you pay anything. We do not move pianos, pool tables or safes, and offer no packing or storage.
Business vans already run drops into these streets, so a drive falling away from the road is known ground rather than a surprise. Send your date with the driveway length and its steepest section, and we will come back with a yes or a no.
Quote it from the kerb.
Send the rooms, the driveway and the steps. A fixed price comes back in about a minute.