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Getting the truck: Penske had our truck ready but could not get a
car carrier until Monday. Probably a blessing in disguise: the car
carrier wouldn't really have saved us any gas, and it would have made the
truck that much more ungainly. Having three vehicles -- the truck,
Jeannie's car, and David's car -- meant we all got 2,700 miles of blissful
isolation.
Paperwork "reduction:" The guy renting us the truck (the owner of the Kangaroo Road Public Storage) printed out about four pages and asked for Jeannie's signature on each, sometimes more than once. He said, "We used to have you sign it once on a stack of carbon paper. This new way saves you time. Actually, it doesn't, but I'm required to say that it does." That's the kind of honest customer service I like. He gave us free moving blankets, too. Durham folks: get your trucks from this guy (at Public Storage on Kangaroo Road), especially if you're eligible for Penske's student discount and/or AAA discount. On franchising for Penske: Apparently the guy renting us the truck got about $8 (0.85%) out of our $1,000+ purchase. Not a large cut. We bought a lock and boxes from him, too, of which he got 5%, almost doubling his take. Penske vs. Uhaul: No contest. The Penske was one year old, had working radio and climate control, and could go 70 no sweat. As far as 20-foot moving trucks go, I couldn't really have asked for much better. And sure enough, most of the DIY movers on I-40 were driving Penskes, not Uhauls. One Uhaul driver we saw actually admired the Penske over his radio (to his wife, not to us) as we blew past him. My only complaint was that it took unleaded; most truck stops assume trucks take diesel and don't put much effort into making their unleaded pumps accessible to moving vans.
First place prize, truck packing: Adolfo | Next > |