General Freight Services

General freight is the default category for everything that isn't specialised — non-DG, non-oversized, non-live. Palletised stock, cartons of packaged goods, crated machinery parts, drums of non-hazardous liquids, retail replenishment and trade supplier deliveries all sit here. If a consignment moves on standard pallet-and-carton networks without special handling, it's general freight — and that's the majority of Australian business freight volume.

Whichever is greater. Carriers apply a cubic-to-weight conversion (commonly 250 kg per m³ on road and 333 kg per m³ on air), and the billable weight is the higher of actual gross weight or cubic-weight equivalent. Stackable pallets price better than non-stackable because they free up deck space above the load. Share actual dimensions, gross weight and stackability at quote stage — it changes the number materially. The cubic weight calculator returns the figure in seconds.

Every metro-to-metro capital lane runs daily — Melbourne-Sydney, Melbourne-Brisbane, Melbourne-Adelaide, Sydney-Brisbane, Adelaide-Perth, and the Tasmanian crossings via Bass Strait. Regional destinations reach through capital-city consolidation depots and on-forwarding — Ballarat, Bendigo, Wagga Wagga, Toowoomba, Bunbury, Darwin and similar hubs are standard general-freight destinations with transit times quoted against the lane.

Indicative road transit for general freight: Melbourne-Sydney 1-2 business days, Melbourne-Brisbane 2-3 days, Melbourne-Adelaide 1-2 days, Melbourne-Perth 6-7 days, Sydney-Brisbane 1-2 days, Adelaide-Perth 5-7 days, Brisbane-Cairns 3-4 days. Regional on-forwarding adds 1-3 days depending on the destination. Rail-assisted lanes (Melbourne-Perth, Sydney-Perth) match or beat road transit on cost for palletised loads. Share postcodes for a lane-specific estimate.

General freight covers non-urgent palletised and carton interstate and regional volume. If the job has a same-day or next-morning deadline, express is the right service. If it's an oversized campaign with multiple drops to a construction site over weeks or months, project freight fits better. General is the default, not the only option — send the brief and QFM will recommend the right service tier.