(1) Price: U-Haul is less expensive, but usually there is a reason why....
In the MA area I was quoted for a local move at $39.95/day at one U-Haul,
$44.95/day at all Ryders (1-800 number), and $19.95/day at another U-Haul. I scrubbed the 5$ difference between the first U-haul and Ryder and found that the $19.95 price at the other U-Haul were for 1978 standard transmission trucks only. One person suggested haggling between Ryder and U-Haul for price. When I tried this on the Ryder line (of course mentioning the $19.95 price) I was told that local, round-trip, moves are a fixed price and only the one-way moving fee was negotiable. Extras, are the same price for both: dollies ($10), furniture pads,
($10/doz), etc.. Mileage charge was the same at both places (.39/mile).
(2) Condition of Trucks: I had pleasant replies from people using both truck companies, and unpleasant trips also, but my personal experience was that I found the U-Haul from 1978 mentioned above and I was told on the Ryder 1-800 number that they only keep there trucks in operation for so many months (<3 yr).
(3) Ergonomics: Ryder's trucks have no wheel well but U-Haul's trucks are lower to the ground. Some Ryder trucks were said to have a hydrolic lift on the back to compensate for this.
(4) Service: The 1-800 number was nice for Ryder because it assures you of a fixed price.... I went to a Ryder truck dealer in town who was going to charge me $10 more than the price the 1-800 number gave me because it was a weekend move. You can also confirm you reservation on the phone with a credit card with Ryder where some U-Haul dealers I called wanted the deposit in person before reserving your truck. Despite this it is important to note that because both are franchises service varies depending upon the place you go.
(5) What did I do?: I went with Ryder because:
(1) The local U-Haul dealers had either old trucks or difficult owners
(2) The 1-800 number for Ryder allowed me to reserve a truck with/out taking time off from work/school/other new house stuff. NOTE: I did check out all the condition of the trucks at local Ryder and U-Haul rentals before calling so I knew what Ryder location to specify before I called.
(3) Ryder's trucks were newer for only five dollars more.
(4) Ryder was opened earlier and was open later than the U-Haul locations which was important to me because I went with a one day rental. Once again thanks for all the help!!! The following is all the posts that I received. There is a lot of useful information that can be gained by reading them but just press "n" is you've had enough already.">


Submit your question

There is no clear "better" moving company because most rental places are franchises.

Question:

Pleased give me comment for thoes quesitons?

Answer:

I've had experience with both. Ryder rents the largest size of the two, with which I moved two households together (over 26,000 pounds) from San Francisco to Philadelphia. I found their service to be reasonable and the truck itself was quite new and ran extremely well. In fact, the truck was way overloaded, but performed nicely. The most recent episode also went quite smoothly (a local move), though the transmission needed attention. I would suggest, whichever company you use, to drive the truck a short bit and ask for another if you feel it's not up to snuff and you are moving long distance or in tricky situations. BTW, American Express has some discount coupons for student card holders for one-way trips. Check it out if you need them. I don't know about the age of Ryder, but we have used both and find that the U-Haul trucks are much easier to load because they are lower to the ground. The Ryder trucks are much taller and the angle at which you have to push to move things up or down is greater. We were much happier with the U-Haul. The only reason we choose U-Haul this last time was because there was a dealer closer to the house we bought and the Ryder folks were clear on the other side of town. It turned out to be a good choice! This was a 16-17' truck if it matters. Happy moving! I recently rented a U-Haul truck. In my area they were significantly cheaper than the competition. It was a wonderful truck: pretty new, automatic transmission, good brakes, handled nicely, wasn't hard for me to drive at all (I'm 5'2"). The floor of the box sits very low which makes loading easier. I had not rented a U-Haul for 10 years - the one I rented 10 years ago was a nightmare (lousy handling & brakes, etc.). So if your local U-Haul dealer has new trucks (why not stop by and look at his lot?), you'll probably do well there. Non-local can be reasonable to have someone else move you, too. Some friends of mine rented a Ryder truck one-way from the San Jose area to Seattle to move some stuff they had in storage. This came to something like $1200. I'm doing the same move at the end of this month, and it's going to cost
$1500 to have a company do it (Bekins), including full coverage insurance and the surcharge for my being upstairs. An extra couple of hundred dollars is well worth it, since I have several big bookcases and a 50" projection TV. No way am I going to try to try to carry that stuff downstairs (and upstairs on the Seattle end). It's definitely worth calling the moving companies. Most will give you a rough estimate over the phone if you describe what you have, and most will send someone out for free to take a look at your place and give you a firm price.

Submit Your Comments and Answers

Submit your comment or answer


Privacy Policy