U-Haul Truck Rentals is a private company owned currently by AMERCO, a holding company with other businesses like real estate, general insurance, and life insurance. The company was started by Leonard Shoen in a garage belonging to the family of his wife. He chose franchising with gas stations for rapid expansion. The Shoen family owns 55% of the publicly traded company currently.

Because of the omnipresence of their vehicles on the roads, the name has become a generic name to represent the whole industry. Shoen had a large family of twelve children and disputes for the ownership were common. Two of his children, Edward and Mark made a successful takeover. Family quarrels about the company continued even after the takeover, which ultimately ended up in court. The court case went in favor of Leonard Shoen and others. Shoen met with a major road accident in 1999, which ended his life. In 2003, the company applied for bankruptcy and reemerged in 2004. U-Haul remained totally unaffected by the filing.

The U-Haul rental fleet consists of a mix of trucks and trailers of various sizes. Besides trucks and trailers, the fleet has other various equipment too. Currently, all their vehicles are gas-powered, though the 5.2 meter trucks were diesel-powered. These had to be brought back to the point of hiring. The heavy-duty van cabs and pickup trucks are of GMC or Ford makes. U Haul manufactures truck boxes of various sizes at their units located at different places. These are combined GMC and Ford trucks.

The company has an assortment of sizes varying from the smallest, 3.0 meter to the biggest at 7.9 meters. Besides, multiple trailer sizes, two wheeled Tow Dolly and Auto Transport a four-wheeled vehicle are also available. The company has trucks with lower decks built below the top, unlike the more conventional above the rear wheels. They advertise these and another type of truck which has a over-the-cab storage space called the Mom’s Attic. The trucks have images of different states and provinces of Canada which are educational too.

Most corporate-owned centers and neighborhood dealerships have these pickup trucks. The company has two services One-Way and In-Town. In the former, vehicles are dropped off wherever after use while in the latter, they are have to be returned to the point of picking up.