I bet you hadn't thought about renting a Penske truck!
Written: Aug 19 '01
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Pros: Quality Equipment, Great Customer Service, Free Mileage, Affordable
Cons: Not as widely available as U-haul or Ryder
The Bottom Line: Little known for renting trucks, Penske is a quality name that far outstrips U-haul or Ryder in the moving game.
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| wolfegirl29's Full Review: Penske |
Moving is one of those things that most people hate to do but we all do it some time in our lives, usually more than once. As a friend of mine put it, he’d rather take a sharp stick to his eye than move, and honestly, I can’t say that I’m anymore fond of the whole tedious process. However, I recently decided that moving to Florida would be the best next step for me to take in my life.. so a-moving a went.
A month before my moving date, of July 30th, I decided to start looking for a moving truck, something that could haul all my stuff and tow my car. Since I was moving at one of the busiest moving times of the year, when all the college student are going back to school, I knew it was going to be expensive. However, when Ryder and U-haul quoted me basic prices for just a 15’ truck and tow dolly around $1000, I decided to keep looking.
A co-worker of mine suggested that I look into Penske, saying that they were very affordable and high quality. I looked at their website immediately and discovered that their basic price was only around $500 which was for the ‘15 truck and a tow dolly. I quickly reserved a truck, along with a dozen furniture pads, to pickup at a nearby gas station over the Penske website.
After going to the gas station to inspect the trucks and tow dolly a few days later, I decided to upgrade to a car carrier for my car. With an 850 mile trip ahead of me, I thought my old girl would prefer to ride rather than to roll. It was also only $20 more expensive and less chance of damage to my car. All I had to do was call the 800 number provided on my reservation confirmation I received via e-mail and it was handled immediately. I also later received another confirmation through the mail that included a VHS tape on how to use the car carrier. I thought that was pretty slick.
A few days before actual move, I went with my Dad, who was going to help me drive, to have him look the trucks over and he decided that we needed hand truck. So, we simply spoke with the station attendant about our need and he said he would try his best to locate one for us and we had one on the day of the move. My Dad was very impressed with the quality of the trucks and was pleased to be using Penske brand since he had met Roger Penske, a former race car driver, many years before and trusted the Penske name. The Penske trucks and accessories can be rented for local or one way moves with an up front guarantee of free mileage and a ‘98 truck or better.
Penske Rental Trucks
You can rent either a 10’, 15’, 20’ or 25’ truck. Though, if you’re planning on hauling something, like your car, only the 15’ trucks or larger are setup with towing hitches. All of the trucks come with automatic transmission, powersteering, power brakes, A/C, and AM/FM radio so you can cruise to some tunes. The smaller two trucks have two bucket seats that leave plenty of room for a cooler between them. The larger trucks have bench seats.
I rented the 15’ truck, which are built somewhat higher off the ground than a U-haul or Ryder truck. However, this gives you a flat truck bed so you do not have to pack around annoying back wheel hubs. The truck’s ‘floor’ is covered with wood instead of metal so you’ll get less scuffs on the bottom of your furniture. The ‘ceiling’ is made of an opaque white plastic which easily illuminates the whole inside so you can actually see what you’re doing during the day. There are also wooden bars that run along the inside ‘walls’ so that you can easily secure things with a rope. The front cab is wide with plenty of space in between the seats for something like a large cooler. Also between the seats there is a little door to the cargo area, though we never had any use for it because we tightly packed the front of the truck.
Penske Towing Equipment
You can rent either a tow dolly or a car carrier. You’ll have to let them know the year, make and model of your car so they can make sure the towing equipment is right for your car. The tow dolly just brings the front wheels of the car off the road and can involve a lot more work since it is recommended that you disconnect the drive shaft from rear and four wheel drive cars to avoid damage to the transmission. You also cannot not back up with tow dolly connected to the truck. With a car carrier, the whole car is off ground and you don’t have to worry about disconnecting anything. However, It is required that you do not load anything in the car during the move, since this will change the support of the car carrier. You secure the car with harnesses tightened by wenches over the front wheels and chains connected under the front and back of the car. Trust me, I’m so happy I went with the car carrier instead of the tow dolly!
The Penske employees will attach the towing equipment to the truck. However, they will not load your car onto the towing equipment for liability reasons.
Penske Moving Accessories
The only accessories I rented from Penske were the smart kart or hand truck and a dozen furniture pads. You can rent several dozen furniture pads at $15 a dozen. The smart kart was another $15. Both the kart and the pads were in excellent condition. The kart had a set of long straps so you could secure items as large as major appliances to the hand truck. The furniture pads were all clean and large enough to cover the majority of my wooden furniture, like my dresser and bed head board.
You can also purchase boxes and packing materials on the Penske website to be shipped directly to you from Allboxes.com.
Penske Insurance
Penske offers two types of protection plans for your move. The Limited Protection plan covers any loss or damage to the truck or towing equipment, regardless of who’s at fault. For an extra $20 dollars a day,. this is certainly better than having to pay for any damage in full or even worse putting it on your car insurance, if it covers it. The Personal Accident/Cargo Insurance covers most anything that can happen to you or your cargo, including theft, whiling renting the truck. Since I did not opt for this insurance, I cannot tell you the exact price per day.
Discounts!
A nice thing about Penske is that they give you the opportunity to use discounts. There are 5 different options though you can only use one. If you are a member of AAA, AARP, a Student or Active Military, you can receive a discount. However, if you do not fall under any of these, you can also receive a %10 discount just for reserving a truck on-line. I received a %12 discount for being a member of AAA. Every little bit helps!
Overall
I had a wonderful experience with Penske. The rate was reasonable, the products were high quality and the customer service was always outstanding. Also and probably most importantly, the truck ran very well and was fairly roomy and comfortable, considering the length of the trip and what we hauled. However, in all seriousness, how comfortable can any vehicle be in a 16 hour drive?
I do want to share this last tidbit of information about the quality of Penske I gleaned from the owner of the public storage place we dropped of the car carrier and truck. Roger Penske is very strict with his trucks. If any of the vehicles need work, they are taken immediately to the local repair depot, even if there are customers waiting to rent a truck. This may be bad for immediate business but it ensures that trucks will be in good working condition. If the dealers fail to do this, and something happens to the truck that could have been prevented, the dealers loose the commission and are smacked with a hefty fine. How’s that for some serious business?
For further information on renting from Penske, just go to http://www.pensketruckrental.com
Thank you, one and all, for reading my review!
Recommended:
Yes
Ease of Filing Claim: N/A
Amount Paid (US$): 778.64
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Epinions.com ID:
wolfegirl29
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Member: Diony
Location: The Peach State
Reviews written: 15
Trusted by: 31 members
About Me:
A transplanted Canadian living south of the mason dixon line.
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