You are buying cubic metres, and time is the currency you pay in

A part load, also called groupage, means your goods share a container with other households going the same way. You pay for the space you take rather than the whole box, which is why it is far cheaper for a small move. What you give up is the fixed date. The container leaves when it is full or when the schedule says so, and your collection happens inside a window rather than on a day you chose.

For most people moving to Algeria that trade is a good one. A single person, a couple, a student or someone sending a room of furniture ahead would otherwise be paying for a twenty foot container that travels mostly empty. Below about fifteen cubic metres, groupage usually wins comfortably.

The catch is specific to this route. If you are working to a Certificate of Change of Residence, you have a six month deadline and a collection window is by definition imprecise. That is manageable, but it means booking earlier than you would elsewhere and telling the mover about the certificate date at the start rather than at the end.

Give the mover your target arrival month and your certificate date together. A good consolidator can usually place you in a specific sailing if they know the constraint early. Told late, they can only offer the next window.

Part load in short

📊 Priced per cubic metre of space used
📅 Collection window, not a chosen day
📦 Best under about 15 cubic metres
⏱ Adds 1 to 2 weeks for consolidation
📝 Your own inventory stays separate

If you are over the line

Once you are near fifteen cubic metres it is worth pricing a whole container as well. Sizes and capacities are on the container shipping page.

📏 Working out your own volume

A rough cubic metre estimate you can do this evening

You will get a proper figure from a survey, but a self estimate is worth having before you ask for quotes, because it tells you whether you are in part load territory at all. A cubic metre is a box a metre wide, a metre deep and a metre tall. Standard removal cartons run roughly six to a cubic metre. From there, rough guides most movers work with:

Typical items

Double bed with mattress, around 2 cubic metres
Three seat sofa, around 2 cubic metres
Double wardrobe, around 1.5 cubic metres
Washing machine or fridge, around 0.7 each
Dining table and four chairs, around 1.5

Typical households

Boxes and a few personal items, 1 to 3
One room of furniture, 4 to 7
Studio or one bedroom flat, 8 to 12
Two bedroom home, 15 to 20
Three bedroom home, 25 to 35

These are working rules of thumb, not measurements. People routinely underestimate by a fifth once everything is packed rather than in use, so if your estimate lands right on a threshold, assume you are on the larger side of it. A video survey takes twenty minutes and settles it properly.

⚖ Where part load stops being the answer

Three situations where a whole container is better value

Groupage is not automatically cheaper. It is cheaper per cubic metre at small volumes, and that advantage disappears as the volume climbs. Worth pricing both when any of the following applies to you.

You are over fifteen cubic metres. The per cubic metre rate starts to approach the cost of a twenty foot container, and you get a fixed date instead of a window.
Your dates are genuinely fixed. A tenancy ending, a job start, or a certificate deadline that leaves no slack. Paying for the whole box buys you control of the schedule.
You are shipping a vehicle or anything awkward. Oversized, heavy or unusual items are difficult to place in a shared load, and the surcharges can wipe out the saving.

Ask for both quoted side by side. Any mover on this lane will do it, and the answer is often not what people expect.

Two things to check on a shared load

Your inventory stays yours. Sharing a container does not mean sharing a customs entry. Your goods are listed and cleared as your consignment, and that list has to match the one you legalise at the Algerian consulate. Ask how the packing list is produced and make sure you get a copy.

Bracing matters more. In a shared box your goods sit against other people's for a Mediterranean crossing. Proper packing and securing is not an upsell here, it is the difference between furniture arriving and furniture arriving in pieces.

One enquiry, one vetted mover from our network

Send your rough cubic metres, the UK collection town, the Algerian delivery address and your target month. We come back with one certified company running groupage on this lane, with the whole container priced alongside if you are near the line. No charge, and no obligation to book.

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❓ Questions about shared container moves

Is there a minimum volume?

Most groupage services to Algeria start around two cubic metres, which is roughly a dozen removal cartons plus a couple of small items. Below that you are into baggage territory and the economics change. Ask the mover for their own floor, since it varies between consolidators.

How long is the collection window?

Usually a few days to a couple of weeks depending on how the consolidation is filling. That is the trade you are making for the lower price. If your dates cannot flex at all, price a full container instead rather than hoping the window lands well.

Does sharing slow the customs clearance?

Not inherently, since your consignment is entered on its own paperwork. It can in practice if another household in the box has a problem that holds the whole container at the terminal. It is uncommon, and it is one more reason a firm with a real track record on this lane is worth choosing over the cheapest rate.

Can I add items after I have booked?

Usually yes, up to the cut off, and you pay for the extra cubic metres. It is worth being generous with your original estimate rather than optimistic, because a revised volume close to the sailing is harder to accommodate than one flagged when the booking was made.

About the author

This guide is maintained by Darren Benjamin, who founded International Removals Companies in 2010 and has over 20 years in the logistics industry. Since 2013 he has also been Secretary and Manager of a UK removal company, a role verifiable on Companies House.

Volume guides compiled August 2026 and are working rules of thumb used for planning, not measurements. Next review August 2027. Minimum volumes and consolidation frequency vary between operators and are confirmed by the matched mover. Read our Google reviews.

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Rough cubic metres, collection town, Algerian delivery address, target month and your CCR date if you have one. One vetted company checks the consolidation, the sailing and whether a whole container would serve you better.