Consumers today can be flexible in their purchasing needs, but one thing they will not bend on is convenience & One-Stop-Shopping. Big Box retailers figured out long ago that if they provided all of things their customers needed all in one place, they’ll frequent that business more often; even if it costs them a little more.
Storage customers are the same way. Since we know that two out of every ten storage customers requires a truck rental, many savvy operators have added truck rentals to their business; simply because they’ll be able to provide the one-stop-shopping that there competitor might not. That and it provides an additional income stream for their primary storage business and a way to offset some additional overhead costs.
The best part of all of this, is U-Haul assumes all of the liability, repair and maintenance costs so it’s ZERO RISK, and since it’s not a franchise there is absolutely no cost for storage operators to enter in and participate. Your only commitment is what U-Haul refers to as “your unused land and labor” which means a place to park a few trucks, and someone to perform the five minute rental contract on our free Point Of Sale software.
Since most operators today don’t have the parking spaces to park large quantities of trucks, U-Haul requires no minimums or maximums as it relates to rental inventory. Whatever space you can allocate will always work for U-Haul. Only want to rent trucks and no trailers? No problem! Want to rent everything? No Problem!
There is also no trade protected areas, and since truck rental customers demand convenience it’s not uncommon to see U-Haul Dealerships a mile from one another. U-Hauls reservation referral program allows you to make money on a piece of rental equipment you might not have which makes this concept work out for both Dealers and the customer!
We see storage customer’s everyday inquiring about where to buy boxes and moving supplies for their goods in storage. When you’re a U-Haul Dealer, you can use U-Haul’s purchasing power through box vendors to purchase boxes and moving supplies and sell them for what you decide is the appropriate retail rate. You can even have the costs of these supplies deducted directly from your truck rental commission, so there is no direct out of pocket costs.
If your choose to use U-Haul’s business platform you are entitled to many other features well over and above what most storage software companies use including receiving storage reservations from uhaul.com. This is why U-Haul’s storage software is clearly an all-encompassing business platform.
U-Haul has additional programs to help advertise your storage business by putting your name on a truck and a program that allows the customer to use the truck at a limited or zero cost if they rent your storage room.
The U-Haul Dealership contract is a 30 day notice to terminate, so there is nothing that locks you in for the long term. Trying it out to see how your customers respond just make sound business sense.