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Apr 23, 2008 -- U-Haul sued over allegedly unsafe truck
The summer is a big time for people moving. Many opt to rent a truck instead of hiring professionals to do the job. There's one company that Clark suggests you avoid if you intend to rent a truck. U-Haul has long had problems with putting allegedly unsafe vehicles on the road. Clark recently saw a Bloomberg report about a man who won an $84 million judgment when his U-Haul ran him over! The jury assessed $21 million in damages and $63 million in punitive damages. U-Haul, of course, feels the damages are excessive and plans to appeal.
Clark thinks this was a case of a jury being furious about company that seems doesn't seem to learn from past mistakes. Go to Google and type in "U-Haul problems" to see for yourself. U-Haul vehicles tend to be old and not properly maintained. The reality is that the company needs to look in the mirror and make some changes, not point fingers at a jury verdict as unfair. Clark invites any U-Haul representative to come on the air and tell him why his view is flawed.
Unfortunately, Clark won't be able to answer any questions submitted via commenting. If you have a question, please try posting it to our message boards.
I have been a U-Haul dealer for over 7 years. I admit when we first started doing U-Hauls, they were old, but about 3 years ago, U-Haul replaced their whole fleet. No more old trucks on the road. The old trucks are kept for local rentals, but are still maintained very well. We have not had any problems with our customers at our business. I wonder if there are just so many more U-Haul locations/rentals that it seems there are more negative comments.
U-Haul
I have had a couple of really really bad moving vans from U-Haul over the years. I moved from Atlanta to Daytona Beach, and the truck I had went through 2-3 gallons of coolant on my 1 way trip. I would not reccomend U-Haul to anyone!
Rental Truck Problems
It's not only U Haul Google rip off report penski, rip off report budget truck rentals, be creative and google your own keywords also.
The person or the company?
As a U-Haul GM you understand that a company is responsible for those that work for it. It doesn't matter that you wish the public would judge the "person" instead of the company. Instead of wasting time on a pipe-dream, why don't you help your company come up with policies and procedures to PREVENT being put in a position of being "judged". Seems to me that would be a better use of your time. That being said, I have never had a problem with any U-Haul I've rented in the past.
U-Haul Trucks
I am a U-Haul GM and although some people may not do their jobs correctly, as with most professions. However the trucks rented from my location and the entire area I work under takes great care in the safety and good working order of our trucks and trailers. As in most cases there is always 2 sides to every story and we have the largest fleet of vehicle and also have the most brand new vehicle's of all the major companies. I wish just once the public would judge the person at fault and not the company as a hole. Because we are the largest and most widely used we are always looked at, more so than our competitors.....
U-HAUL
Iam surprised so many people have problems with UHAUL, I have not had any problems using there vehicles when I was moving. Other than there vehicles being old as dirt...no problems. I guess I got the luck of the draw.....
Never again U-Haul
My grown son has utilized U-Haul on several occasion. Several years ago he was given one which would cut off and would start again after a 15 -20 minute wait. He called U-Haul and managed to drive to a garage they sent him to. Truck was supposedly repaired, but broke down completely about 30 minutes from home. The bad part was that it was in the evening, almost dark and he was on a long highway bridge when the truck completely stopped and would not move. He had to be back at his home 150 miles away, so I went to get him. Spent over 30 minutes on the phone with an unconcerned U-Haul rep who said that a tow truck would be at my expense. Managed to get the truck out of the flow of traffic and a mechanic sent by U-Haul showed up 6 hours later. Following that, needed a truck again and made a reservation with deposit several days in advance for one at the dealer in our small town (only truck rental agency here). Got there and of course they didn't have one for him. Drove 40 miles and managed to get one just ahead of some poor guy who had made a reservation but had not secured it with a deposit. Swore off U-Haul and later rented the same type of truck from Budget. Got a new clean truck which was far better than anyone ever received from U-Haul.
U-Haul problems
My husband and I rented a U-Haul trailer in 1965 in Omaha, Nebraska to move to Oakland, California, when he was leaving the military. We had a flat tire on it in the Mohave desert in the middle of the day in August. We were stranded for 6 hours. After two hours of no one stopping to help, we unhitched the car and drove back to a service station. It took U-Haul another four hours to get to us. We really suffered that day. So the U-Haul problems go w-a-a-y back!
U-Haul Problems Continue
Amazing that U-Haul cannot get their act together. This has been going on for more than 20 years, with multiple lawsuits by Attorney Generals' offices in many states. I can't imagine why this company is allowed to continue to operate.
U-HAUL
I have used u haul trucks many times and i have had no problem with them. I am sure if you looked into the other lease trucks iam sure that you will find problems with them also.i,am not saying that u-haul does not have some bad trucks but they all do.
U-Haul
I have always used U-Haul and had little trouble. Minor stuff one flat tire and an electrical problem and fixed on the road. They have always extened my lease so I would not have any late fee's. They let me keep it one time for ten days because my home was not ready. I am very satisfied with U-Haul. Maybe U-Haul will read this and give me another great deal on a rental.
First and last U-Haul experience
10 years ago my son was in High School Band. The band held its normal fund faiser of selling Christmas trees. I volunteered to drive over 350 miles, from the coast of North Carolina to the mountains of North Carolina over the Thanksgiving holiday to pick up these trees. I called U-Haul and reserved a truck for the Friday after Thanksgiving. We drove up on Wednesday, I called the local U-Haul dealer and everything was on schedule, we had Thanksgiving lunch at the Dan'l Boone Inn in Boone, N.C. on Thursday, which was excellent. On Friday upon arriving at the dealer, they had no truck for me. The nearest truck was in Hickory, N.C., and either I could wait until the next day for them to retrieve it for me, or I could drive to Hickory and get it myself. The Christmas tree farm needed the truck on Friday so they could have it loaded and ready for me to make the trip back on Saturday evening. I drove to Hickory and back to Boone in the oldest hunk of junk I had ever driven. One rear tire was flat, the exhaust leaked so much we had to drive with the windows down most of the way back. There was so much loose motion in the steering I could hardly keep the truck in my lane safely. This was a terrible experience, but it taught me a good lesson, NEVER RENT from U-Haul again. Each and every year since then we have used Budget and have been very satisfied.
Good experience with U-Haul
My daughter moved from Wisconsin to Maryland to start her first job after college. The truck was clean and available on time at a place near my daughter's apartment. I went with her to help drive the truck. We left New Year's Day in the midst of a snow storm, that stayed with us until we got to Pennsylvania. The truck handled well and the seats were even comfortable! We had no problems with the truck at all. My daughter had arranged for unloading help through U-Haul, and 2 very nice young men came. They were polite and very careful with the boxes and furniture. She was very pleased with how the move went, and so was I. I plan to move soon and I'm considering using U-Haul again. I will ask for the use of the newer trucks.
Budget Truck
I rented a Budget truck to move 2 rooms of stuff from San Angelo to Austin. The truck was a 2006 model, which ran fine and got good gas mileage until we came to the hill country, and it would lose power on the hills, as mentioned, and really sucked the gas down then. I didn't break down, but it seems like the engine may be small for the size of the truck - ours wasn't even a full load and it bogged down on the hills. I did call the dealership to set this up after I had reserved online w/ U-Haul only to discover I would have to drive 35 miles further to rent a larger truck than I had reserved, so I cancelled with them. I think working with the individual dealerships is always better.
U-Haul and Enterpise
Rented tandem axle U-haul truck. drove it down the road, noticed a noise from rear. Inside tire was flat. Enterpise trip back from Jacksonville, Fl to Atlanta, GA the air conditioner compresser fell off and cut two belts. Four hours later service trucks without the correct belts. Jury rigged it and had to stop and fill it with water three times.
ALWAYS make the rental company check the air in the tires especially the four rear ones. different air pressure of ten lbs will make one tire run slower and the other faster = blown tire from the heat.
U-Haul and Ryder
I rented a Ryder truck some years back to move. It was horrible - the noise, steering play, lack of power. Totally decrepit, and this was the second truck after I returned the first one as intolerable after going half a mile down the road. They were old and poorly maintained.
U Haul
Years ago I rentea a U Haul. It was an old truck. The steering had a lot of play,and it overheated due to a leaking heater core,which leaked coolant into the cab. I had to stop and refill the radiator serval times . I was amazed this vehicle was still in service. It seemed like there was a supply and demand problem . Too many people wanting to rent a limited number of trucks.
U-Haul Trucks
I was once a U-Haul dealer with service bays, they only repaired items when the truck broke down, I would tow it in my shop repair it and have to argue with them to get paid for my services, they would tell me but it couldn't of been this or that there maintance was very bad, and at that time the trucks were very, very old they never replaced there equipment, I must say one thing positive about U-Haul is that there trailers are very good, after putting up with them for about 4 years or so, I finally swiched to Ryder An Ex U-Haul Dealer
Need I say more?
How many U-Hauls do you see broken down? How many of the other guys'? Penske only for me, despite their sales weasles.
U-Haul
We dealt with U-haul only because it was the only option in our small town. Don't call the reservation line to reserve---they won't guarantee you a truck and they won't let you know till the day before if you are going to have to drive 50 miles to pick it up. Call the local dealer and reserve through them and they will make sure you can get the truck from them. Our local guy was good, but the corporate people weren't. We loaded our 26 foot truck to the ceiling with everything--took us 1-1/2 days to pack it all in. Then it broke down 30 miles down the road. They sent out 3 mechanics to diagnose it, and the first two were wrong. By the time they wasted all day sending out mechanics, it was the weekend and too late to have the truck fixed. My husband finally got here with the furniture at midnight on Monday (he broke down on Friday afternoon). They did give us two other options besides waiting for repair--both of them ridiculous. One was that they would pay my husband minimum wage to unload the truck into their parking lot and reload it into another truck (it took 6 of us 1-1/2 days to load it the first time) and the other was that they would hire a bunch of guys (probably off the street) to unload and reload under my husband's supervision, but they would not be liable for ANY damage that occurred to the stuff during that process. So we had to wait. They fixed it well enough for him to get here, but through the mountains the truck only had enough power to go about 15 mph uphill, so a 5 hour trip took him closer to 8 hours. To be fair, they did refund the entire cost of the rental at our insistence because of all the problems, but again, this is because of the local dealer where we turned it in, not the corporate people. Maybe this judgment will make them take a closer look at their maintenance. Be sure to check everything before you take the truck, and always give yourself plenty of time to stop--loaded trucks are heavy.
Problems
Rented a U-Haul to move from Phoenix. Almost didn't make it to Flagstaff. Could barely go 15mph up I-17. My coworker also rented one and broke the rear axle just past Flagstaff. I will never rent from them again. I think the problem isn't necessarily the age of the trucks, but the maintainence and the box size... they're too big for the frame/engine rating of the trucks and encourage overloading.
U-haul WE-score
It's not just safety -- it's the rip-offs inherent in their reservation system. In my last move with them (& I do mean LAST), I dealt with three dealers before getting a truck. Don't think of them as a company. Uhaul is a loose association of thieves. How it's legal? I don't know, but I would rather hire a mule.
U-Haul
The U-Haul store in my Kansas community has some of the worst trucks I've ever seen. They are almost all over 10 years old and usually suffer from a variety of problems (broken mirrors, leaking oil, door locks that don't work or for which they provide the wrong keys (always check before locking!)
Budget is a bit more expensive, but their fleet is way better than U-Haul.
Another UHaul story
It makes sense now that the old rickety trucks are for local moves. I rented one for a charity and the alignment was so bad that I had to strong-arm the truck to keep it straight. PLUS, the brakes were so weak that I literally had to stomp on them to slow down and kept several car-lengths distance between myself and the car in front. THANK GOD I only had to drive it across town -- I was terrified the entire time! I will NEVER AGAIN rent from UHaul!
Safety checks not performed on trucks
I rented a U-haul truck to move my stepmother across town. My brother followed me and told me that one of the turn signal lights didn't work. When I questioned the equipment guy at U-haul when I returned the truck as to why they didn't do a safety check on the vehicle before they are rented he said "I'm the only guy checking these and I can't do it all myself". Needless to say I will never rent from them again.
U-Haul
I am absolutely ecstatic to see that U-Haul was sued for its unsafe vehicles. Personally, I will never utilize the services of U-Haul again and it is my personal crusade to persuade as many people within my circle of influence to not utilize their services.
Five years ago I rented a large U-Haul truck to move my possessions from Michigan to New York. Unfortunately for me, the U-Haul truck had a terrifying inclination to drift to the right. The issue was compounded by a dangerous amount of play in the steering wheel which made it difficult to correct for the inclination of the truck to drift to the right. I drove whiteknuckled at no more than 40 miles per hour through Ohio, the mountains of Pennsylvania, and to New York in less than optimal weather conditions. By the time I reached New York, I was physically and emotionally spent.
When I dropped off the vehicle at the U-Haul dealer, I was furious and I informed the dealer that I would never rent another U-Haul "death trap" again. The dealer seemed less concerned about the vehicle and my terrifying experience and more concerned about getting me on my way so that the other customers wouldn't hear me utter the words "death trap" again.
If anyone knows how I could serve as a material witness against U-Haul, I would be glad to volunteer my time to take some of the air out of a company which represents the worst of American business practices.
Ryder is now in cahoots with Uhaul - Penske FTW!
Recently got quotes to move from MI to CA and when visiting the Ryder site, was redirected to U-haul to make the reservation - forget that!
Nevermind U-haul was over $400 more than Penske... I have had a few issues with Penske's car trailers having bad tires, but those were quickly resolved when inspected at time of pickup.
No matter who you rent from, check the unit(s) yourself before driving off - don't take their word for it that it's been checked and is ready to go...
EQUIPMENT AGE AND CUSTOMER SERVICE
I AM A UHAUL DEALER.UHAUL IS GETTING NEW TRUCKS ON THE ROAD AND RETIRING THE OLDER ONES. THE NEW ARE RENTED AS LONG DISTANCE (ONE-WAY RENTALS) AND THE OLDER ONES ARE FOR LOCAL (IN-TOWN RENTALS). AS FOR UHAULS CUSTOMER AND ROADSIDE SERVICE I HAVE HAD CUSTOMERS TELL ME SEVERAL HORROR STORIES OF HAVING TO WAIT HOURS ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD OR ON HOLD. THERE IS NO EXCUSE FOR THIS AND THE WORST PART IS THE LOCAL DEALER USUALLY GETS THE BAD REP. FOR THIS BECAUSE I AM THE ONE WHO RENTED THE TRUCK TO THEM. AS FAR AS CONFIRMED RESERVATIONS GO YOU ARE NOT GUARNTEED A TIME OR PICK UP LOCATION UNTIL THE DAY BEFORE. A UHAUL REP IS SUPPOSE TO CALL AND TELL YOU WHERE THE TRUCK IS LOCATED AND WHAT TIME IT WILL BE AVABILE FOR PICK UP. IT IS UP TO THE LOCAL DEALER TO HOLD THE TRUCK THEN AND IF IT IS OUT OF THE WAY YOU MUST ASK FOR EXTRA MILES OR TIME. IF YOU DO NOT ASK THEN YOU WILL NOT GET IT. SO UHAUL IS TRING TO GET SAFER TRUCKS ON THE ROAD BUT AS FAR AS THE SERVICE END THEY ARE KILLING THEM SELF
u-haul
I used to work for U-haul. I will not drive thier older trucks. from what i have seen. new trucks are for long distance, state to state. local trucks are old and have problems ie. oil leaks, transsmission problems that is why the are local trucks it does not cost then much to have it towed and get another truck for you and uhaul makes thier money on the insurance they offer they are self insured in the state of arizona they (other family members provide parts and supply for uhaul we could not use lights or parts from auto zone)supply all supplies
Uhaul accident i saw recently
This is the first I'd heard of Uhaul's problems, and it reminded me of a fatal accident I saw the aftermath of a couple of weeks ago. I saw a Uhaul truck which had slammed head on into a large tree on a country highway. There were no other cars involved. I don't know that it was caused by a fault in the truck, but wouldn't be surprised now.
Another U Haul Bad Experience
This has been a few years back.... We booked a truck 6 months in advance. Day of pick up they couldn't provide a truck or car hauling trailer as promised. I personally searched throughout state and located the truck for myself, had to wait til 5pm next day for them to locate car trailer. They then hooked up car trailer to truck wrong causing it to come off truck and skid to a stop in the street just as we left our driveway. Please note, we were leaving for a 1000 mile trip to our new location. They refused assistance by phone in helping us release the emergency brake on the trailer. We then went by nearest U Haul rental place to have them recheck trailer to truck hook up. They then informed us the truck had a bad oil leak thus explaining the black back door on the truck. I should point out the truck was filthy when we got it late, so I made them sign a waiver for the cleaning fee if you return the truck dirty. We then had to wait additional 4 hours while truck mechanic came from 1 hour away to fix the problem. Needless to say, by the time we got on the road, it was 6pm and we were all exhausted. We were supposed to leave at 7am that morning. When I arrived at destination, they tried to charge cleaning fee despite waiver from start point. I flat out refused to pay it. I will never consider using U Haul again after that nightmare move. They didn't care one iota when they didn't have the promised truck booked 6 months in advance.
U Haul
A UHaul employee backed one of their trucks into my SUV at their parking lot. The police were called & wrote a report, but no ticket was issued since it was pvt. property. Their insurance co. has verbally said since there was no ticket it wasn't their fault. They refuse to put this is writing or acknowledge my e-mails or phone calls.
U-Haul bad experience
I rented a U-haul for a local move last summer. The truck they gave me had almost no brakes and bad steering. The entire time I was driving I was thinking about how I was going to sue U-haul if I had slammed into another vehicle if I wasnt able to stop. I felt very fortunate to make it to my destination, and then back to the U-Haul place. The predent thing would have been to park the vehicle and get U-Haul to bring a replacement truck, but the place I rented from was sold out and I had to make the move that day. IMHO, it is criminal for U-Haul to have trucks like this on the road. Though maybe a tad excessive, I'm glad they were found liable in the $84 million lawsuit.
U-Haul Brake Failure
While moving cross-country, the brakes failed on the U-Haul truck I had rented as I crossed the Hoover Dam! Scary place to be brakeless. After several hours on the side of the road, the U-Haul technician came. When I described the problem, he answered without surprise..."That happens all the time on these trucks." We were able to get a partial refund, but it was a long, ugly process. Sure wish I'd known about Clark back then!
Penske or Budget the way to go
Since I graduated college two years ago, I've had to move three times. During my move from college I booked a U-Haul truck and experienced similar problems as described below. My truck was not available at the time that they confirmed and the truck was in bad condition. For my next two moves I rented from both Penske and Budget. Both companies had excellent customer service and there was no issue concerning availability and quality of the trucks.
Broken down truck
Had scheduled a turck for pick at 6:30pm. Friday evening, for a weekend move. Called to confirm pick-up and was told the fleet was in route to the rentals office and would not be there til after 8:30pm. I would need to wait until then for the size I ordered. We were there waiting for the truck, signed all paperwork and proceeded to our home to load, the truck hardly made it to the house, and completely stopped running right in front of the house and they had to come and tow it back, we then had to go back (15 miles)and pick up another truck, by this time it was 10:00pm at night. And then get cursed out by the DRUNKEN manager for calling them to come open back up to give us another truck. We finally got another truck (much smaller) so this caused us to lose an entire evening of loading, plus several more trips then were orginally planned. We never recieved a discount, for these trips or the trouble or the cursing of the drunk manager. I have contacted the u-haul company several times only to be told (rudely) someone would be contacting me back, guess what? No one ever has! I would never use them again for anything, and will tell everyone I know never to use them, I can not believe they are still in business. Years ago I knew someone in the Peoria, Il. area that worked for a rental office that was supposed to fix and repair these trucks, and he informed me they are the most unsafe vehicles on the road! The repairs are never made they are rented back out as soon as they are dropped back off by other renters. Guess I should have listened to his advice!!!
Budget is great--UHaul Not So Much
I was moving more or less across town, though it was from one city to the other. I rented a UHaul truck. This was three years ago, and I did not know better. I've since learned my lesson. The truck had every problem known to man. First, there was no truck when we went to pick it up, so they sent us to another location, which was very obviously a repair place for trucks. When we got the truck, the gas guage was broken, so we never knew how much gas was in there, the speedometer was broken, so it said we were going 85, when we were really only doing 55, and it took us all day to load the truck. It was night fall when we left, and we promptly discovered that the lights did not work, instead of coming on and staying on, they flashed on and off. The next time I needed a truck, I called Budget, and they were absolutely polar opposite of UHaul. The truck was clean, available, with a step so my grandmother could get in, and everything worked the way it was supposed to. A little more expensive, but well worth the cost difference, and customer service was wonderful.
Agree about both UHaul and Penske
I couldn't agree more. I cringe when friends tell me they've reserved a UHaul truck for an upcoming move. Questions such as "Will UHaul have their truck available when they go to pick it up?" and "Will the truck work?" come to mind because UHaul has problems in these areas. Penske, on the other hand, is an absolute pleasure to deal with. Great customer service and much newer vehicles.
Another Vote for Penske
We rented a Penske truck when we moved from our apartment to our house. We had a great experience too. Clean, well maintained truck and SO much cheaper than UHaul.
Penske
Rented Penske last time. Was cheaper than U-haul, truch was new and it was diesel = saved money on gas. I drove over 800 miles with no issues.
Cancelled Resevation
i listen to ur show and googled U-haul's problems and was shocked to read so many safety violations. I thank u for the advise.