Scotland Shuttle carries boxes, bags, luggage, bikes and small furniture both ways between Glasgow (G), Stirling and Falkirk (FK) and Edinburgh and the Lothians (EH) postcodes and the south, on fixed fortnightly days: London on Wednesdays, Cambridge on Tuesdays, Oxford and Swindon on Saturdays, with the Scotland run on Thursdays. This guide sets out exactly what travels, how it is counted, and where the shuttle stops and a removals van begins.
What counts as a piece
A piece is a single item that one person can lift and carry safely, up to 30 kg. A taped and labelled box is a piece. So is a suitcase, a holdall, a rucksack, a sports bag or a rigid plastic crate with a clipping lid.
The definition is practical rather than fussy. Everything on the shuttle is loaded and unloaded by hand, including a sort at our Oxfordshire hub, so each item needs to be something a person can pick up and move without help. Pieces are priced per item, at £15 per piece for 5 to 10 pieces and £12 per piece for 11 or more, so counting your pieces accurately gives you an accurate booking.
Boxes, bags and luggage
Boxes should be double walled, taped top and bottom, and marked with your booking reference, surname and delivery postcode. Soft luggage is welcome as long as it zips shut and holds its shape when carried; suitcases and holdalls travel particularly well because they are built for exactly this.
Bin bags are the one thing to avoid. They tear, they cannot be labelled reliably, and they give their contents no protection at all. If it is worth sending 400 miles, it is worth a bag with a zip. For the full detail on weights, taping and what can never travel, see our packing guide.
Bikes travel with the pedals off
A standard bike is welcome on the shuttle at £59, with one preparation job that is not optional: take the pedals off before collection day. Pedals stick out, and a protruding pedal is what scratches the frame next to it and punches holes in boxes. A 15 mm spanner or an Allen key does the job in two minutes, and the pedals can travel taped together inside one of your boxes.
While you have the tools out, turning the handlebars in line with the frame and dropping the saddle makes the bike narrower and safer to stow. A bike bag or a couple of sheets of cardboard around the frame adds useful protection but is not required. If your bike is an e-bike, tell us when you book so we can confirm how the battery should travel before collection day.
Small furniture that fits
The shuttle happily takes furniture that two people can carry through a standard doorway without dismantling anything. Typical examples:
- bedside tables and small chests of drawers
- desk chairs and folding chairs
- flat packed desks, bookcases and bed frames still in their boxes
- coffee tables and small side tables
- clothes rails, folded
- mirrors and framed pictures, wrapped
- lamps, with the shade boxed separately
Furniture is priced at £45 per item. If you are booking Kerbside service, remember that getting the furniture to the door is your job; with Assisted service the two person crew carries it from wherever it sits, on any floor.
What does not fit
The honest limit is size and handling, not distance. Large sofas, assembled wardrobes, double beds and mattresses, pianos and large appliances sit beyond what a shared shuttle van carries well, and they are better served by a dedicated removals job. The same goes for anything that would need dismantling at one end and reassembling at the other.
The packing guide list of prohibited items applies to furniture consignments too: nothing flammable, no gas canisters, no perishables. If an item is borderline, a quick photo sent over before you book gets you a straight answer rather than a problem on collection day.
When you need a removals quote instead
There are two thresholds. If your consignment is over 50 pieces, or includes more than 6 furniture items, it has stopped being a shuttle consignment and become a small house move, and you will get a removals quote instead.
This is not an upsell, it is geometry. The shuttle model works because several customers share one van on a fixed day route, which is what keeps the service frequent and the route reliable for everyone on it. A single consignment that fills half the van needs its own vehicle and its own plan, and pretending otherwise would mean turning other booked customers away. If you are near the threshold and not sure which side you fall on, send the list and we will tell you honestly which service fits.
A quick self check before you book
- count every box, bag and case as one piece each
- check each piece is under 30 kg and liftable by one person
- list furniture items separately, and check each is a two person carry at most
- pedals off any bike, and mention e-bikes when booking
- under 50 pieces and 6 or fewer furniture items means the shuttle fits
- over either threshold means ask for a removals quote
Most students, flat movers and people sending belongings ahead fall comfortably inside the limits. If you are the exception, better to know before booking than on the day, so when in doubt, ask first.