Rental Truck Reviews (Penske and Budget are good)

[Diane]

"CatzEyes" posted in 10/07 praising Jason at Penske's El Cajon location near San Diego for being especially helpful - http://www.movingscam.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=15008

[Jeepnnj]

Penske was great!
I recently rented a 16ft truck with a full size trailer to tow my Jeep moving from Los Angeles, CA to New York, NY. Rented at Penske in downtown LA and returned in North Bergen, NJ. Awesome service, great price compared to U-Haul. With my AAA discount and great service over the phone I paid a total of 1500 and change for the entire rental. The truck was fairly new, a Ford E350 with 36000 miles and running great. The only thing I regret not noticing when I drove it off the lot is that it didn't have cruise control (not sure if it's an option or not) but it was a pretty long drive. In any case, I would totally recommend them. If you reserve online, make sure you call anyway to get an even better discount.
Thanks!
Here's my initial thread:
http://www.movingscam.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=15280

[condo driver]

I agree uhauls are junk, but for my shuttles they are my first choice for three reasons.

1st is they are always clean in the back, budget, penski, look clean, but my pads always get dirty even after sweeping. A little tip would be mop the floor if you can.

2nd is they seem to be everywhere.

3rd is being lower to the ground. (makes a big difference on heavy items and big jobs).

[haulinsurance]

Just moved myself with a Penske truck from Benson AZ to Tucson AZ
They were excellant! The truck was almost new with AC power steering and auto trans. Cargo area was clean. I ordered 12 pads they gave me 24, at no extra charge. I was allowed three days only needed one. The extra 2 days allowed me to take the pressure off even though I did not need it.
Even though I did not need any explaining to I appreciate the way they took the time to explain everything.

[david55838]

I'll be using Penske again - for the 2nd time in 3 months for a 2000 mile move. Being a bit anal, I went to the pick up point to check out the equipment, and familiarize myself with the operation of the car carrier. I noticed that one of the safety pins was missing and brought it to the attention of the manager. She had someone come out to replace it and also found a low tire which was repaired. The truck was in great shape and the move went without a hitch - even considering it took 3 days to cross Nebraska in blizzard conditions!

[Diane]

Here's a good report on a move from Manhattan to Maine in a Penske truck:

6/14/08 - I just completed my move from NYC to Portland, Maine and I have to say it went really well. I rented my truck from Penske. We got a AAA discount, which was nice. My husband went to pick it up at 11am on Friday. We knew that was when street cleaning alternate side of the street parking went into effect on our side of the street, so while he was getting the truck I set myself up with two folding chairs and blocked off a big parking space for the truck right in front. We were able to get it into the space without any hassle from NYPD Traffic or desperate parkers, just after noon. We reserved moving help through emove - Darling Movers in Manhattan and Bakers Midcoast Movers in Maine. The Darling Mover guys showed up around 1:30 as scheduled, and were able to pack up the truck in just under two hours (the minimum you can reserve). They were so helpful, fitting everything in like a tetris puzzle and even taking on some extra stuff from our downstairs neighbors when we discovered we had room for it. The next day on the Portland, Maine side, Bakers Midcoast Movers showed up around 4pm as scheduled and also had all the unloading done in under two hours. I would say that if you don't mind driving the truck, setting up movers through emove and driving the truck yourself is the way to go. It was about $1000 cheaper from the full service quotes that we got, and we still got what we wanted - not having to lift anything heavy up and down stairs.

If anyone wants any advice about moving out of Manhattan (sell your clothes at Beacon's Closet and buy boxes online! I used the link on movingscam) or moving into Portland, I would be happy to give it. For now though, I will say - thumbs up to Penske, emove and movingscam, who have made me a very happy newly moved Mainiac. - http://www.movingscam.com/forum/viewtop ... 358#111358

[Spac3d]

Has anyone been able to rent Penske's or Budget's for less than the time on the website?

I need a truck for 1 day for a 400 mile move, and on the website, it keeps forcing me to 3-4 days.

Thanks

[MusicMom]

Try calling them for a price quote.

[Diane]

Re-posting a rather harrowing report on a trip from MN to MD in a rental truck towing a car trailer (but Penske comes out with flying colors):

7/26/08 - Hi, I finally made my move. Following the consensus I found here, I rented a Penske truck (22 foot) and towed my car on a trailer behind it.

Penske was mostly wonderful. I had originally scheduled my truck for July 4, but my move date changed to July 18. On June 26 I called and changed my reservation for the 16th. When I called on the 11th they showed I had "no-showed" and cancelled my reservation. Happily, they had emailed me my new reservation time (although they kept the same reservation number) so the Penske representative kept my quote ($899 truck, $299 car trailer) and had a truck ready for me. I ran into a problem with getting the truck on the 16th that was all me, and Penske was WONDERFUL about letting me pick the truck up on the 17th.

This was, of course, one of the hottest days in MN, and we had a good rip roaring thunderstorm for much of the day. At any rate, I got the truck, drove it through rush hour traffic and had the fun of unhooking the car trailer. It was a nightmare! Finally two people had to jump up and down on the empty trailer to pop it off the hitch. Getting it back on was awful too, but Penske came to my rescue and sent someone out.

The trip turned into a three day driving extravaganza. I elected to drive through Indianapolis to save on tolls, and would really recommend this route- very, very little construction, just a bit in IL at the border and in Indianapolis itself. Then a tire blew on my trailer, on 74, in a area with no pull over lane. I got off the highway and called Penske. They had someone out to me in under an hour, which was amazing! It was in the 90's with an air quality advisory, and I have two big, furry dogs. Not very much fun.

We got back on the road, and persevered to West Virginia. I was staying at a Red Roof Inn, and missed it, so I pulled into a parking lot to swing around, and got stuck. The only way out was to back out. It took me more than 45 minutes to get that @#$%^&* truck/trailer backed out, but I did. This is no boat trailer- it jack knives in a second. We got up and drove through the mountains on 68 the next morning- a white knuckle experience.

We got in, and as I had been unable to find a place to rent, unloaded the truck into a storage unit, which means we had to RE-attach the trailer. Once again, we ran into problems with the trailer and THOUGHT we had it attached. Alas, we did not and it CAME OFF while driving on Conneticut avenue, just hanging on by cables. The brakes were locked on and this time Penske was no help. They were really reluctant to send anyone out to me, so it was fortunate that a wonderful man came by and helped us unlock the brakes- which was no easy feat- it took almost an hour, and helped me attach the trailer properly.

When I drove the truck in to Penske I have NEVER been so glad to get rid of a rental in my life! Penske was mostly great, but moving is horrible! So here is what I learned:

1) Never drive a truck/trailer all by yourself- it is WAY too hard.
2) Have lots of contingency plans- I used every one of mine.
3) Call ahead a few days before your rental date to make sure everything is set up.
4) Drive the car yourself if you possibly can. It is a HUGE pain to deal with the trailer. NOT WORTH IT! I had no other option, but would not recommend the trailer to anyone. If you leave the car trailer attached, you can't use the ramp, so you will have to, at least one time detach and reattach that thing. Yuck!
5) There are a surprising amount of people who will help you- and Penske's customer service is pretty amazing.
6) 22 foot trucks are not too hard to drive- I was pleasantly surprised at how well it centered and turned. - http://www.movingscam.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=16968

[Diane]

"Selfmover" posted an excellent report on Penske for a move from IL to "just north of NYC" in 8/08 - http://www.movingscam.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=16754 His 16' truck was almost brand new and he got about 10 miles to the gallon. He warned that in the NYC area you can't drive a truck on any road labeled a "parkway."

[RickyLynn]

COMPLIMENT AND HIGHEST RECOMMENDATION FOR PENSKE TRUCK LEASING at 17301 NE 7th Avenue Ext, Miami, FL 33169 Telephone #: 305-653-6211

My Brother and Mother just finished dealing with Mich Bonaventure at the above listed Penske truck leasing office and he was both highly professional as well as absolutely wonderful in working out a contract that fit our exact needs.

We wanted to deal with Penske, in the first place, because of the good things said about them by the members here at MovingScam.com. MovingScam.com's recommendation of Penske, as a whole, was important to us and we want to be sure that this particular truck leasing office gets the high marks from us that it deserves.

Ricky Lynn

[Diane]

A good report on U-Haul was posted here in 8/09 - http://www.movingscam.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=18485

[paperwastage]

2 Moving Companies: Ryder and Budget

Date: 6/18
Move: NJ to MD (150 miles) one way
Company: Budget
Cost: $140 + $100 insurance(full coverage, $??[its a non-zero number] deductible plus roadside assistance)
Time: 2x24 hours given

Story: Budget was cheapest amongst the rest of truck companies. Had a location nearby(but that location is mainly an Avis car rental with a Budget option) which was initially a plus.

Day of, went to location, didn't have truck. Location people say that they dont have enough trucks to satisfy the 3 other rentals for the next day(many people moving out of NJ). Call to 1800 number told me to wait 30 minutes for the Resource Director(or something similar name) to find a truck and call me back(never called me at all). I eventually found a truck in another Budget location and eventually started moving boxes 6 hours after what I planned.

Truck was not very clean, but still usable.

Budget: tl;dr
Good: Might be cheap.

Bad: Trucks not guaranteed. You NEED TO scout out the location before hand to see if they have trucks(higher chance of getting a truck if they store trucks)

Not recommended unless you have a lot of Budget locations nearby and you always see trucks there.


-------------------------------------------------------

Date: 7/30
Move: NJ to NJ (50 miles) local only
Company: Ryder of New Brunswick, NJ
Cost: $60/day + $60 insurance(full coverage, $0 deductible)
Time: 1 calendar day

Story:
Budget/Penske wanted $300 for a 1-day move(prolly because of the moving season and its end of month). Uhaul wanted $150. Ryder has a set rate and you can reserve as long as you want(pending availability). Originally reserved a metro van(see their site for pics) for 3 days, but managed to get a 16 foot truck for one day(which was enough for my purposes)


Ryder: tl;dr
Good: Extremely cheap trucks/vans/insurance(not variable on moving dates like Uhaul/Budget). Highly reliable AFAIK(guaranteed reservation, from what I can see, they really try to meet their reservations[they warned us to bring our truck back tmr or else ])
You pay for what you use. If you reserve for 3 days but bring it back before, you only pay for the days you use.
16 foot truck came with liftgate(even though we didn't use it... truck floor was maybe 3 feet high, okay enough to lift stuff up
Personnel on site was friendly and helped us a lot(went there a week before to test out the trucks/vans)

The metro vans(10 feet long) are small and easy to handle. 400+cubic feetof space according to their listing, and looks very new. They say they are trying to phase out the bigger 16" trucks for the smaller metro vans.

Bad: Only local moving(you have to return it to the same location). Only 100 miles free PER reservation(not per day), something like 70 cents after. They count by calendar days(if you return before 8am, they wont count that day; otherwise its counted... you should grab the truck first thing in the morning)

You have to choose between a small metro van(400+ cubic feet) and a 16 foot truck(~900+? cubic feet)... nothing in between(for my location... might be different for yours, since the website has 12-14 foot trucks).

Highly recommended for in-town moving(especially if uhaul/budget is asking for a lot like in my case).

[Diane]

In 10/10, someone posted that he rented a Penske truck in NH for a one-way interstate move and they didn't warn him that he wouldn't get a refund if he returned it early - http://www.movingscam.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=19826 His point was, I believe, that he would have rented it for fewer days if he had known.

Budget Truck, U-Haul, and Penske all have the same policy in this regard but it is not posted prominently on their websites, so I am re-posting a link to his complaint to alert others.

[jacekrsx]

Date: 12/06
Move: Detroit to Chicago
Company: Penske (26-foot truck) plus car carrier
Cost: $340

Recently, I had to move my stuff from Detroit to chicago. I used Penske and I got to say, they were great.
Pricewise, the cheapest
Quality, their truck was clean and in good condition
Also, Oryginally, I had 22ft, but they didn't have one in stock so they upgraded me for free to 26ft.
I paid $340 with 3 days included even I only needed for 1 day.

I will use them again!