# Planning software for moving companies: what you really need Published: 2026-06-11 · Reading time: 8 min · Bas Software Web version: https://www.bas.software/en/blog/planning-software-voor-verhuisbedrijven-wat-je-echt-nodig-hebt Your schedule lives in Excel. Looks fine. But can your salesperson see it? Do you know how many m3 still fit in your box truck on Thursday? And which of your flexible workers are actually still available? This is what planning software for a moving company really needs to do. ![Two movers review the planning on a tablet in front of a Mercedes box truck at a Dutch business park.](https://www.bas.software/images/blog/69e0ee993cca48a300faf5a2-planning-variant-1-tablet-truck.jpeg) A customer calls. Wants to move on Thursday in two weeks. Nice job, 40 m3. But your salesperson does not know if there is room. He calls the planner. The planner is on another call. So he says: "I will get back to you." The customer calls the competitor. This is what we hear every week at moving companies with five crews or more. The schedule lives in Excel, on a whiteboard, or in a combination of both with WhatsApp on top. The planner knows what the day looks like. Nobody else does. And as soon as the planner is on a call, on holiday or off sick, nobody knows anything anymore. ## The real problem: you cannot see where the room is Most moving companies do have a schedule. That is not the problem. The problem is that nobody except the planner knows what still fits into a given day. A salesperson who does not know whether there is room cannot sell. He has to call first, wait, call back. Meanwhile the customer is gone. A planner who does not see that another 15 m3 fits on Thursday next to that 25 m3 job leaves a gap open that costs money. A 45 m3 box truck driving around with a 20 m3 job while the other truck is full and has to turn a job down. That is not a planning error. That is an information problem. And it goes further. You have two employees on a zero-hours contract who happen to be available this week, but that is written down nowhere. Not in the schedule, not in an overview. Only in the planner's head. A small care-room move of 10 m3 comes in, about three hours of work. You have the people, you have the truck. But nobody sees that it is possible. So it gets turned down or pushed to next week. > "The difference between a full day and a day with gaps is not the number of enquiries. It is whether you can see where those enquiries still fit." ## What does planning software for a moving company need to do? Not all planning software is suitable for the moving industry. Most of it is built for appointments: one person, one time slot, done. A move is a combination of people, trucks, materials and skills that all need to be in the same place at the same time. A 30 m3 move is 24 man-hours, so 8 hours with three people. That is not an appointment. That is capacity planning. This is what it needs to do at a minimum. ### 1. Sales and planning in one system If your salesperson has to call to ask whether there is room, you lose customers. Period. Your sales team needs to look at the same schedule as the planner. Not a copy, not an export, but the same screen. Does the salesperson see that there is still 20 m3 of room in team 2 on Thursday? Then he can send a [quote](https://www.bas.software/en/oplossing/verkoop) straight away and lock in the job. No phone rounds. No "I will get back to you." ### 2. Truck capacity in m3 visible at a glance Every job has a volume in m3. Every truck has a maximum capacity. If you see those two side by side, you instantly know whether the job fits in the truck. A 35 m3 move does not fit in a 20 m3 box truck. Then you need a larger truck, or two trips. If you only discover that at the customer's door, you have a problem: you show up with the wrong vehicle and the customer's belongings do not all fit. Planning software needs to show this at a glance: how many m3 is the job, which truck fits, and how do you avoid sending a large truck on a job that fits perfectly fine in a box truck. ### 3. Plan by vehicle, driver, team or a combination One planner works from the vehicles ("which box truck is free on Thursday?"). Another works from the drivers ("who is available?"). And sometimes you plan from a fixed team with its own name, for example a box delivery route that serves the same customers every week. Good planning software lets you choose freely which perspective you work from and mixes them without making you redo everything. ### 4. See all available people, including zero-hours contracts You have permanent employees, people on a zero-hours contract and sometimes hired help via a staffing agency or a fellow mover. They all need to be on the same screen with their available hours, skills and contract type. Not in a separate Excel file, not in the planner's head. If you have two employees on a zero-hours contract who are available this week but not deployed, you need to see that. That is pure revenue you are leaving on the table. ### 5. Match skills and certifications to the job Not every mover is allowed to drive every vehicle. A C driving licence, code 95, experience with pianos, grand pianos or antiques, an international driving permit for trips abroad. Planning software needs to link skills to employees and automatically warn when the combination does not add up. That way you prevent damage and complaints before they happen. ### 6. The right truck for the right job You do not need a heavy truck for a 15 m3 move. That fits perfectly fine in a box truck. The other way around: a 35 m3 job does not fit in a box truck, you need a larger truck for that. And that trip into the Amsterdam city centre is only allowed in 2026 with a vehicle that complies with the zero-emission zone. Planning software needs to know which type of vehicle suits which job: based on volume, emission class and urban access rules. ### 7. Leave, sick days and shortage alerts Two drivers on holiday, one on study leave, and one down with the flu. It sounds like a bad joke, but it is just May. Good planning software keeps track of your staff calendar and warns you in time when leave or absence creates a shortage. Even better: it actively suggests hiring extra people early via fellow moving companies or staffing agencies, so you are not making panicked phone calls on the morning itself. ### 8. Travel time calculated on a truck profile Google Maps calculates travel time for a passenger car. A truck drives a different route: no low tunnels, no narrow residential streets, no bridges with insufficient axle load limits, and it has to respect low-emission zones. Planning software that calculates travel distance based on a passenger car puts you on the wrong foot every week. Real moving planning calculates with the profile of your vehicle. ### 9. Connected to quoting, execution and invoicing A move starts with a [quote](https://www.bas.software/en/oplossing/verkoop) and ends with an invoice. In between sit the planning, the [execution](https://www.bas.software/en/oplossing/uitvoering), time tracking and additional work. Do those systems run separately? Then someone types everything in three times. Good planning software is part of a platform where all the steps interlock. Also read why [standalone tools versus an integrated platform](https://www.bas.software/en/blog/erp-voor-verhuisbedrijven-losse-tools-vs-alles-in-een-software) makes such a big difference. ## The difference: filling every day optimally The core is simple. A moving company makes money when the trucks drive full and the crews are productive. Every day with a gap is missed revenue. Every box truck driving half empty is a missed opportunity. - **+15%**: Higher utilization by making available capacity visible - **-30%**: Less time spent on planning and phone calls - **-25%**: Fewer empty trips and double bookings How does that translate into money? Say you have four crews that are currently productive 65% of the time. With better planning you get to 75 to 80%. On an annual basis that quickly means tens of thousands of euros in extra revenue per crew, without hiring anyone extra. And the planner spends an hour or two less per day on puzzling, calling and correcting. On top of that, mistakes go down. No more box truck that is not allowed into the low-emission zone. No more driver without code 95 on a job he is formally not allowed to drive. No more customer calling to ask where the movers are. You can read more on how to back this up in our blog about [data-driven working in the moving industry](https://www.bas.software/en/blog/sturen-op-data---hoe-verhuisbedrijven-hun-prestaties-kunnen-verbeteren). > "A planner who no longer has to puzzle can finally look ahead instead of putting out fires after the fact." ## What to look for when choosing? The market is full of vendors who say they are "also suitable for moving companies". That is something different from "built for moving companies". This is the checklist we give our customers. **Checklist: planning software for your moving company** - Can your sales team see the schedule and immediately judge whether there is room? - Do you see per truck how many m3 is planned and how much still fits? - Can you plan by vehicle, driver, team or a combination? - Are permanent employees, flexible workers and hired help on the same screen? - Are skills and certifications linked to employees? - Does the system match the right truck to the job (volume, emission zone)? - Does the system warn about shortages caused by leave or sickness? - Does the software calculate travel time on a truck profile? - Does an accepted quote automatically appear in the schedule? - Do worked hours flow through to the invoice? Eight or more checkmarks? Then you are in good shape. Fewer than six? Then sooner or later you will run into the same problems you are trying to solve now. ## Conclusion: planning software that gives everyone an overview The problem at most moving companies is not that they have no schedule. The problem is that only the planner knows what the day looks like. The salesperson does not. The flexible workers do not. The owner does not. And as soon as the planner is unavailable, everything grinds to a halt. Good planning software solves that by giving everyone who needs it the same information. How many m3 still fits in the truck. Who is available. Where the gap is. Where the opportunity is. That is not a luxury. That is the difference between a company that reacts and a company that looks ahead. [Bas](https://www.bas.software/) offers [planning](https://www.bas.software/en/oplossing/planning) as part of a complete platform: connected to [sales](https://www.bas.software/en/oplossing/verkoop), [execution](https://www.bas.software/en/oplossing/uitvoering) and invoicing. Not because standalone tools cannot work, but because in this industry you get more out of a system that understands the whole process. Your sales team looks at the same schedule. Your planner sees the m3 per truck. Your flexible workers are on the same screen as your permanent crew. Whether you are just starting with your second crew or already adding your tenth: [digitalization](https://www.bas.software/en/blog/digitalisering-85787) starts with a schedule that grows with your business. Online or on location - you choose." } button={'Schedule a coffee'} href={'https://meetings.hubspot.com/casper-janssen/koffie_samen'} coffee /> **Sources:** Erkende Verhuizers - Industry figures 2025, CBS - Moving statistics Netherlands 2024-2025, own customer data Bas Software (n=50+ moving companies, 2024-2025).