Another moving by truck thread

[Stuart and Thea 95]

I'm not particularly in love with U-Haul, and my fiance plans to fly up to help us pack up our stuff and drive it across the border to Missouri. It's the best option for us when traveling with 2 adults, one child, 2 cats and a dog. (yes, we will be cramped in the cab, lol!)

I can't see any company online that allows you to rent in Canada (Kitchener Ontario) and drive to the US and leave the truck there other than UHaul, and the reviews I read on the vehicles UHaul uses and doesn't maintain frightens me.

I've read an old post on the CanuckAbroad site that suggests that while a Canadian is not allowed to drive an American rental vehicle into Canada, an American can, with no penalty. So, now I'm researching the option of having my fiance land in Buffalo, rent from Penske or somewhere, drive it up here and pack it up to go back. (He would have been renting a car from Buffalo to come here anyway, it's a lot cheaper than flying into Toronto for some inexplicable reason)

My question to you on the board here is to ask if any of you have ever rented a moving truck in the US to use to move your Canadian goods across the border, whether it be on your POE day, or on subsequent trips? If yes, what company did you use, and would you recommend them again? I've priced out several companies already, and they seem to beat UHaul in the price department by far, and Penske has better mileage too, so any input from experienced drivers is welcome!

[Flames9_RN 358]

Yes others have done it--the USA citizen renting the truck and driving it into Canada, then back to the USA.

I went with Uhaul and had no problems. But I checked over the truck before I accepted it. I talked to the owner of the shop and stated I was using it to move to the USA and wanted one in top shape and he fully understood. Worked out well for me. But yes there are a tons of web sites that bash U-haul. But as they say, more people write about the negatives than the positives

[CDAgirlMI 51]

My (then fiance) rented a Uhaul, brought it into Canada, loaded my stuff up & we crossed over together in it POE day.

No problems, would recommend them.

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Check the different rental companies. Some won't allow a US truck to cross into Canada - I think we looked at doing this with Penske and they did not allow their trucks out of the US. The only company we found that allowed this (either renting in Canada and leaving it in the US or renting in the US, crossing into Canada, and returning it to the US) was UHaul. Things may have changed since then, though.

Edited July 10, 2011 by Kathryn41

[Stuart and Thea 95]

Penske allows it, actually encourages it, the woman told me today, lol, I guess they want to take away as much business from Uhaul as they can. We have to tell the location that we rent from that we will be taking it to Canada, it has to be the US citizen that rents it, and we have to get insurance, they will give us a note. I tried to save the chat I had with her to post it into here for anyone else, to save them the trouble, but it is only 20$ a day for the insurance waiver, (can't recall exactly what she called it!)

All said, Penske quoted us a quote that is only 150$ more than what Uhaul quotes online, but they have unlimited mileage, ulike UHaul, and they use diesel, so that will also save us about 300$ on the trip. They take AAA and discount 12%, charge 50$ extra for an extra day if you tell them ahead of time you want it, and 100$ if you tell them after the trip. IT actually works out to costing less, even with the higher upfront fee, we're using an estimating calculator on the fuel costs, but it's still saving close to 500$

They also guarantee their truck will be there when you go to pick it up. I don't know to take this one as honestly, because Uhaul says the same thing, but you hear so many people that say otherwise. My local Uhaul office had a ton of reviews I could read from the last few months, and while there weren't a lot of bad ones, there were a few. Notably, waiting for reservations, having to go to a different location as the truck wasn't available that they wanted, and dirty trucks with bad brakes. Still enough to scare me off!

I'm still waiting on more info, but I think we will be using Penske, lol, unless I want to part with most of my furniture and have a friend fly us all down in his cargo plane! I've already checked and it's only a little more expensive, but would sure cut down on the time!

Edited July 10, 2011 by Stuart and Thea

[Flames9_RN 358]

Penske allows it, actually encourages it, the woman told me today, lol, I guess they want to take away as much business from Uhaul as they can. We have to tell the location that we rent from that we will be taking it to Canada, it has to be the US citizen that rents it, and we have to get insurance, they will give us a note. I tried to save the chat I had with her to post it into here for anyone else, to save them the trouble, but it is only 20$ a day for the insurance waiver, (can't recall exactly what she called it!)

All said, Penske quoted us a quote that is only 150$ more than what Uhaul quotes online, but they have unlimited mileage, ulike UHaul, and they use diesel, so that will also save us about 300$ on the trip. They take AAA and discount 12%, charge 50$ extra for an extra day if you tell them ahead of time you want it, and 100$ if you tell them after the trip. IT actually works out to costing less, even with the higher upfront fee, we're using an estimating calculator on the fuel costs, but it's still saving close to 500$

They also guarantee their truck will be there when you go to pick it up. I don't know to take this one as honestly, because Uhaul says the same thing, but you hear so many people that say otherwise. My local Uhaul office had a ton of reviews I could read from the last few months, and while there weren't a lot of bad ones, there were a few. Notably, waiting for reservations, having to go to a different location as the truck wasn't available that they wanted, and dirty trucks with bad brakes. Still enough to scare me off!

I'm still waiting on more info, but I think we will be using Penske, lol, unless I want to part with most of my furniture and have a friend fly us all down in his cargo plane! I've already checked and it's only a little more expensive, but would sure cut down on the time!

All truck outfits count on people bringing back the trucks when they are suppose to, but of course situations arise and people hang on to them longer!!

I'm sure Penske will be very good, friends here have used them and always had success. I do belive diesel costs a tad more in the USA than regular gas! Good luck!! Esnure u check the whole vehicle out, all the fluids and tire pressure!

[Udella&Wiz 325]

You'll be fine with UHaul - I moved from Kicthener ON to Centreville VA 3 yrs ago - and yes we read the reviews, but our truck was in excellent shape, no issues at all. People will always b*tch about their bad trips and forget to mention the ones which were good so don't take all the reviews you read as a perfect barometer. We had had the largest truck available which can be driven on a regular license and 3 people in the cab (ask me how comfortable the jump seat in the middle is ). We dropped it off locally here in VA. no issues at all, took us 2 days (the trip is a little slower).

I rented from the UHaul on Fairway Rd (in behind the car dealership at the storage place)

I'm not particularly in love with U-Haul, and my fiance plans to fly up to help us pack up our stuff and drive it across the border to Missouri. It's the best option for us when traveling with 2 adults, one child, 2 cats and a dog. (yes, we will be cramped in the cab, lol!)

I can't see any company online that allows you to rent in Canada (Kitchener Ontario) and drive to the US and leave the truck there other than UHaul, and the reviews I read on the vehicles UHaul uses and doesn't maintain frightens me.

I've read an old post on the CanuckAbroad site that suggests that while a Canadian is not allowed to drive an American rental vehicle into Canada, an American can, with no penalty. So, now I'm researching the option of having my fiance land in Buffalo, rent from Penske or somewhere, drive it up here and pack it up to go back. (He would have been renting a car from Buffalo to come here anyway, it's a lot cheaper than flying into Toronto for some inexplicable reason)

My question to you on the board here is to ask if any of you have ever rented a moving truck in the US to use to move your Canadian goods across the border, whether it be on your POE day, or on subsequent trips? If yes, what company did you use, and would you recommend them again? I've priced out several companies already, and they seem to beat UHaul in the price department by far, and Penske has better mileage too, so any input from experienced drivers is welcome!

Edited July 10, 2011 by Udella&Wiz

[Penny Lane 8,159]

I will be using UHaul as well. It will just be me, my fiance and my golden retriever ... should be a comfortable two day trip.