As we were driving down the highway last week, I wondered if UHaul’s president Joe Schoen has ever driven one of his 26′ rental trucks with his family and three dogs in the cab, everything he owns loaded in the back, and a vehicle on their tow-behind-trailer driving 9 hours over 500 miles on I-87 and the Garden State Parkway? I must be crazy, but that was just one thought I had on this latest trip.

Now, don’t get me wrong. We are regular users of UHaul’s equipment, and we are generally grateful for what they do provide. We are also very knowledgeable about their service having moved 25 times in 25 years. So it’s time for some friendly feedback.

To begin, a forecast of 8-12 inches of snow is always daunting the day before loading the truck and making a move. Certainly UHaul doesn’t control the weather.

A slightly sloped, icy driveway made connecting the truck tow hitch to the trailer a shot (i mean many shots) in the dark on a good day even harder. What about putting a small camera above the back of the truck, or near the hitch, that shows someone when they are backing up and getting closer to the hitch? It is always seems way more complicated than it needs to be, sort of like connecting an approaching rocket to the international space station.

OK so if you have driven southbound on I-87, especially the 100 miles or so south to Harriman, NY in one of your trucks, Mr. President, you would return to your office and immediately email the manufacturer to begin installing shock absorbers, and I mean good ones(!) in each truck. Come on! Each crack in the road felt like we were crossing the grand canyon! Our teeth haven’t stopped chattering even days later. I call not acceptable to the lack of comfort, and the poor condition of that stretch of road.

Most times that we have made reservations for your trucks and trailers and equipment, we ask for the rental pick-up and drop-off near where we live. Logical right? Instead, your UHaul system is to tell your customer the night before(!) how far out of the way they have to drive to pick up your truck. This is usually a great inconvenience at an already stressful time. For us, this has been as long as a 4 hour drive one way! Sometimes we have faced having to drive to one city for the truck and a different city for the trailer. Come on! I call BS. I understand that the logistics of getting your assets in the right place must be a great challenge. What about using computers or A.I. or quantum computers and giving it a try to provide more service to your customer?

This time, after being on the road forever then unloading, we had to bring the rig back and were instructed to drive an hour away from our destination. When we arrived, the building was empty, hadn’t any paint on it, looked like the Addams Family was filmed there, and there was no one in sight. I walked to a neighbor’s house to ask if this was a legitimate UHaul facility. They thought maybe it was, and I should just back in and leave it. If they only knew what our last 10 hours were like, and that I have so little expertise in backing up a big truck and trailer. I drove the rig straight in their driveway figuring someone more experienced than me could do the precision backing into traffic. What about a circular driveway? Zero customer service here.

In any case, thanks for listening. If you plan to set up a UHaul Frequent Hauler Club, please let me know. We hope this was the end of our UHaul moves. Thank you for being there for us all those moves.

Sincerely,

Brooks Bradbury

© Copyright 2023 Brooks Bradbury / BrooksLooks. All Rights Reserved.