U-Haul International, Inc. (NASDAQ: UHAL) is a North American equipment rental company, based in Phoenix, Arizona, that has been in operation since 1945. The company was founded by Leonard Shoen (L. S. "Sam" Shoen) in Ridgefield, Washington, who began it in the garage owned by his wife's family, and expanded through franchising with gas stations.
Overview
U-Haul is owned by Amerco, a holding company which also operates Amerco Real Estate, Republic Western Insurance, and Oxford Life Insurance. The Shoen family currently owns about 40% of the publicly-traded stock corporation. The company rents trucks, trailers, and other pieces of equipment, but many U-Haul centers and dealerships also provide storage, LPG (propane) refueling, hitch and trailer wiring installation, and carpet cleaners, among other services. The largest rental fleet in the industry and the company's many outlets across the country makes its services easier to access than most competitors.
Because of the company's ubiquity (there are 15,000 dealers across the country) the name is sometimes used as a genericized trademark to refer to the services of any rental company. The livery used on rented vehicles is widely recognized, primarily consisting of white and a thick horizontal orange stripe, in addition to a large state- or province-themed picture, known as SuperGraphics.
There are many other companies in the U.S. that run similar businesses, but the two most significant competitors are Budget Truck Rental and Penske Truck Rental.
History
In 1945, at the age of 29, Leonard Shoen co-founded U-Haul with his wife, Anna Mary Carty, in the town of Ridgefield in the state of Washington. The company was started with an investment of $5,000 from family friends Kenneth and Donald Shivers . He began building rental trailers and splitting the fees for their use with gas station owners who he franchised as agents. He developed one-way rentals and enlisted investors as partners in each trailer as methods of growth.
By 1955, there were more than 10,000 U-Haul trailers on the road and the brand was nationally known. Distracted to some extent by growing his business, Shoen nevertheless took time for multiple marriages and eventually had a total of 14 children, each of whom he made stockholders. Shoen transferred all but 2% of control to his children when two of them, Edward and Mark launched a successful takeover of the business in 1986. Family scrabbling over the U-Haul empire turned to physical confrontations between some of his children at company meetings, even before the 1986 takeover. The takeover sparked a major family dispute that led to a $461 million judgment in favor of Leonard Shoen and others. In 1999, 85-year-old Leonard Shoen suffered fatal injuries when he crashed into a telephone pole near his Las Vegas, Nevada home.
The Shoen family, currently led by chairman and president Edward "Joe" Shoen, owns about 40% of the company through their AMERCO holding company. AMERCO filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in June 2003 and emerged in March 2004. The filing did not include or affect U-Haul operations.
Equipment
U-Haul's rental fleet is composed of trucks, trailers, and various other equipment. Heavy duty pickup truck and van cabs manufactured by GMC, and Ford are mated with U-Haul manufactured truck boxes in fabrication plants located at various places in North America. The vehicles are all gas powered, with previous models offering diesel 17-foot (5.2 m) trucks that must be brought back to the same location they were rented at. Five truck sizes are available (10', 14', 17', 24', and 26'), and multiple trailer sizes (4'x7', 4'x8', 5'x8', 5'x9' Ramp Trailer, 5'x10' and 6'x12', in addition to a two-wheeled "Tow Dolly" and a four-wheeled "Auto Transport"). U-Haul advertises that their trucks have lower decks which are built below the tops rather than above the rear tires like standard cargo box trucks. Some trucks also have an over the cab storage area called "Mom's Attic." The trucks are painted with graphics of different locations across the United States and Canada. U-haul has also launched a "Newest Trucks" campaign and have been building new one-way vehicles en-mass. As these are being built the one way fleet is being retired to local use only and previous local trucks are being de-imaged and retired to "for sale" status.
Pickup trucks and cargo vans are also available at most corporate owned centers. The vans feature significant modifications for moving household furniture. Besides warning stickers, and bumper guards, recent vans have power windows, power locks, running boards, a cargo / driver compartment divider, and wooden slats on the inside walls. Those who plan to move queen or king size box springs should observe that they do not fit horizontally between the door openings of E-series Ford vans. Although the smallest trucks rent for as much as the largest trailers, they are subject to significant mileage charges and are less likely to be available on weekends.
U-haul has two main classifications for equipment in its fleet. The first type of equipment is known as "In-Town" or "Rotation". These are owned by the franchise or designated to a specific store by the corporation. These are intended for "In-town", pickup and drop off at the same location, rentals only.
The other half of the fleet consists of "One-way" equipment. These are all owned by the corporation and are mostly used for one-way trips, meaning pickup and drop off at different locations. Generally this type of equipment is new and will have low mileage. One-way trucks display the well-known state/provincial images while the In-town trucks usually have large decals with the rates advertised. Once a one-way truck has seen so many miles or number of major service calls it will be transferred to a center for In-town usage. Along with open trailers, the pickup truck and cargo van are available in town only. Ramp trailers are the only open trailers that may be rented one-way. Often one-way equipment will be used for in-town rentals, however, in-town equipment should never go on a one-way rental.
All U-haul trailers require a "four way flat" and "7 prong" wiring mount (or adapter) and a 1 7/8", 2", or 2 1/8" ball with adequate hitch and vehicle towing capacity. Generally, the trailer and its contents weight must be equal or less than the towing vehicle.
All trucks owned by the U-Haul corporation (including those assigned and decaled for use in Canada) display apportioned Arizona license plates that do not expire. Newer trailers in the U-Haul fleet have apportioned plates, registered in a variety of states. Some older trailers have regular expiration dates, which will be replaced with apportioned plates when they expire. In the Alaska and Hawaii markets, U-Haul registers equipment locally because those states do not have apportioned vehicle registration systems.
SuperGraphics program
U-Haul created the SuperGraphics Program in 1988 as a salute to the United States and Canada. SuperGraphics have evolved and grown in many ways. According to U-Haul, Venture Across America SuperGraphics are carefully researched rare findings, little-known facts and mysteries that exist throughout the United States and Canada. Information about all graphics is available at U-Haul's website.
Ford Explorer
U-Haul will not rent a trailer to be attached to any Ford Explorer. According to U-Haul: "U-Haul has chosen not to rent behind this tow vehicle based on our history of excessive costs in defending lawsuits involving Ford Explorer towing combinations. This policy is not related to safety issues. This is an unusual circumstance for U-Haul." This extends to all production years and models (for example, the ban includes the Ford Explorer Sport Trac) of Explorers, regardless of tire brand that is attached. This comes from many accidents involving Bridgestone or Firestone tires. Ford Explorers can, however, be towed by U-Haul equipment, and U-Haul also sells U-Haul branded trailer hitches, which are manufactured by Cequent or Valley Industries, for Explorers.
The ban does not extend to sister vehicles such as the Mercury Mountaineer, Lincoln Aviator, or Mazda Navajo which are all the same vehicle simply re-badged.
As of March 2010, Uhaul still does not allow Ford Explorers to tow their trailers.
Safety issues
In Canada, various news agencies have found serious safety problems on U-Haul equipment. In July 2005, the Toronto Star reported statistics suggesting that about half of U-haul vehicles in Ontario were not road-safe. Shortly afterward, the Ministry of Transportation (Ontario) reported that, of 296 U-Haul vehicles inspected in the summer of 2005 (43.5% of all inspections performed), 58 (19.6%) were found to have out-of-service defects, meaning that they are not road worthy. CTV followed in October 2005, conducting their own inspections across the country, and finding that all 13 rented U-Haul trucks failed to meet basic provincial safety standards.
Replying to the Toronto Star , the company's Canadian officials cited its inspection policies and procedures that employees and dealers are expected to follow. In response to the CTV resul
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