Rental truck for moving

[Voyaging Doc]

Will be moving next month crossing several state lines. Anyone have suggestions on how to get a good deal on truck rental for a self-move?

The best I can come up with is 4.5% CB through TCB/BeFrugal for Budget truck rental + CC points (probably barclay arrival). I came up dry for U-Haul.

Was hoping I could find a discover cashback redemption deal or 5x deal on Budget or U-Haul GCs but they don't seem to exist.

Thanks guys!

 

[BuddyFunJet]

While not MS related, Budget has MUCH better trucks in their fleet than U-Haul. Short of a major price difference, I would always go with Budget. Other hints are factor insurance in the comparison and ask about needing to stop at state lines for truck inspection on your route. When moving stuff from NM-TX, I had to stop at border truck inspection. Was just waved through when I said it was my own stuff but they do require a stop.

 

[Voyaging Doc]

While not MS related, Budget has MUCH better trucks in their fleet than U-Haul. Short of a major price difference, I would always go with Budget. Other hints are factor insurance in the comparison and ask about needing to stop at state lines for truck inspection on your route. When moving stuff from NM-TX, I had to stop at border truck inspection. Was just waved through when I said it was my own stuff but they do require a stop.

Thanks for the info I didn't even think about that. Budget seemed to be even cheaper. Gas is going to be another expense I won't look forward to. Guess I'll have to ms the whole way on the trip to defray the cost. I should even pick up shipments on the way to make done cash from other people like on the Ushipit shipping wars tv shows.

 

[BuddyFunJet]

By the way, also look at Penske rental. In my area, they rent out of Home Depot so you can use the HDGC. Decent trucks.

They honored the damage waiver when I put a decent gouge in the side wall.

 

[Voyaging Doc]

By the way, also look at Penske rental. In my area, they rent out of Home Depot so you can use the HDGC. Decent trucks.

They honored the damage waiver when I put a decent gouge in the side wall.

You've used the HDGC? This pairs excellently with the amex offer and acquiring 5x or discounted HDGC!!

 

[BuddyFunJet]

The Penske where I picked up the truck as a standalone location so that is where I paid. Dropoff in Texas was at the tool rental desk. I have paid for other rentals at the desk with HDGC but you might want to verify they will accept them for the main rental. You will probably also need to run a credit card for a deposit.

 

[TheBOSman]

Will be moving next month crossing several state lines. Anyone have suggestions on how to get a good deal on truck rental for a self-move?

Agree on the Budget vs. Uhaul trucks, in my searches Budget was often cheaper.

That said, due to the volume of what I had (not a major lot), and the 2000 mile distance between Boston, MA and Austin, TX, next month when my brother moves here to Austin, we are using a Uhaul Ubox. Fill the box, turn it over to Uhaul and they ship the box down here, and we will be flying down with the stuff that can be checked on a plane and ourselves. It will take 2 weeks for them to deliver though, but it was cheaper than renting a truck from anywhere, and I used miles for the plane tickets. Might not make as much sense on a shorter distance move though, and the box is definitely smaller than even a 10' rental truck, but it was the cheapest option, even before including the price of gas for the truck.

 

[raenye]

Consider Amtrak Express shipping.
It arrives very quickly (say, next day's train) at ~$0.50 per pound. Individual boxes cannot be more than 3'x3'x3' though. Perhaps can circumvent this by palletizing your stuff on your own.
Need to drop off and pick up at the train station.

 

[BrownHP800]

I used to be a GM at a U-Haul center. If you find a lower rate, U-Haul will match or beat that rate. (Generally) They don't ask for proof.

 

[Voyaging Doc]

Turns out for my move from PA to GA uhaul quoted the cheapest price at about 1000 before taxes. I also rented a tow-dolly to tow my FWD sedan. I will never tow again as it was a huge pain in the rear.

Right before placing the order online I ended up finding one merchant on ebay whom sold me an $1000 U-haul GC for $500 which of course I snatched up. I was able to save $500 which brought my total down considerably but was still quite expensive. I also maximized use of the PA Giant gas points deals to cover most of the gas fees for my <10 mpg haul down.

For my next move I think i'd rather palletize my truly prized possessions and burn the rest of my belongings

 

[haserfauld]

Resurrecting this old thread. My wife and I will be looking to do a cross-country move in about 11 months (SoCal to NC). So far, I can't price out that far, but for similar dates between providers, Budget wins hands down. We're moving from a 2bd/1ba, so a 16' truck would more than cover it. We'll be bringing a vehicle as well, so I'm looking at a hauler, too. Right now, with discounts, that's still pricing out just over $2K. My wife is not comfortable driving a moving truck, and we'd rather not drive separately (i.e. not tow the vehicle). Given what I've seen about towing, I'm wondering if we'd be smarter to look into Uhaul Ubox or something, or if there are other options I'm not aware of. Having them transport the items would be great, and it would allow us to drive cross country in our SUV rather than towing it. We love the idea of making it a 10-day trip and doing a little sightseeing on the way. Ubox is more expensive on the surface ($2458 for two--which should do it), but factoring in fuel on the truck, I'd probably be looking at at least $500+ for fuel (2550 mile trip--and that's the most direct route).

I don't want to mess with sightseeing if we're driving a truck and towing a vehicle. I've got a long time to plan this, so I'm hoping to get on the research wagon early.

 

[Voyaging Doc]

Whatever you do don't buy significantly discounted gift certificates for U-Haul from eBay. I'm now blacklisted from any rentals until I pay off 1k after using 1k gc bought for 500 on eBay that then was reported as bought with a stolen card a month later. I explained this to the rep but she can't remove the block from my name

I did the dolly tow for an 800-mile Journey. If I had to do it again I probably not use the dolly again because it only tows two wheels. It was too much stress. I was able to do some minor sightseeing though on the way

 

[chalkitup]

[QUOTE="haserfauld, post: 638541, member: 2228]Ubox is more expensive on the surface ($2458 for two--which should do it), but factoring in fuel on the truck, I'd probably be looking at at least $500+ for fuel (2550 mile trip--and that's the most direct route).[/QUOTE]

I price this out every time I move and, for my family, it has made sense to use a Ubox kind of service every time. There are several options out there, often with wildly different pricing. Keep in mind that there are weight limits for each box, too. We have used ABF U-Pack and Uboxes. I preferred U-Pack. Fuel cost and tow equipment rental savings are significant.

Another plus is way more leisurely loading. You can usually get the to drop the box off a few weeks early.

 

[haserfauld]

Another plus is way more leisurely loading. You can usually get the to drop the box off a few weeks early.

I noticed this as I was reading up on it, and this would be great. When we moved to our current place, we had 15 days of lease overlap (was on 15th before, moved to 1st). Having that time to move made it super convenient. This move will undoubtedly be plenty stressful, so the more areas of leisure I can give us, the better! Thanks for the tip!

 

[haserfauld]

Resurrecting this thread.

We are going to be moving August 1st, from Southern California to Raleigh, NC. We've decided on a 16' truck, and I'm hoping to use Penske, possibly Budget, and definitely not U-Haul. I played with their quote system a bit:

1) Renting the truck in SoCal and dropping off in Raleigh quotes out at $2000 (Budget) and $2300 (Penske)
2) Renting the truck in Las Vegas (250 miles away) and dropping off in Raleigh quotes out at $790 (Budget) and $820 (Penske)
3) Airfare to Vegas is ~$75
4) Gas from Vegas is ~$75

This seems like a no-brainer to me. Here's where is gets a little complicated. A family friend (retired truck driver) from the NC area has offered to drive our truck out for us, if we pay for airfare out and gas/lodging on the way back. With points, that's easy. That gives my wife and I the ability to road trip and sightsee more than we could with a truck. However, as I understand it, he'd either need to book and pick up the truck in LV, or I'd need to add him as an additional driver (again, I believe he'd need to be present). Unless I could pick it up and drive it here, then add him once I got here, which may be possible. For a couple hundred dollars, I might even just avoid the hassle, but not for a $1500 swing.

Anyone have datapoints or advice?