Driving a 10' U-Haul


 
Brad Olson

Brad Olson

TVWBB Diamond Member
Any tips or tricks for driving a 10' U-Haul moving truck?

www.uhaul.com

10ft Moving Truck Rental | U-Haul

Use a 10ft moving truck for moving studios, apartments or dorms. This small box truck is popular with families and has a low deck and good fuel economy.
www.uhaul.com www.uhaul.com

I'll be driving it one way from Arkansas to Wisconsin in a few weeks and I think everything will be fine on the open road, but am not looking forward to the drive out of the Ozark foothills and around St. Louis. Thanks!
 
Just remember it’s a “rental” and who knows how it’s been treated. But, U-haul tends to be pretty good about keeping their stuff fairly well taken care of. You will be fine.
 
My son and I recently drove a 20’ and a 26’ u-haul truck on different occasions from the Seattle area to the Boise area over 2 mountain passes. No problems with the drive or trucks, just don’t expect to win any speed contests. My son drove each truck back to the Seattle area because it was 50% less in price to return the truck.
 
I've done more of these treks than I can count as my kids have had schools and jobs thousands of miles from Colorado. Which is far from pretty much everywhere. A 10-footer is easy peasy. Two tips:

1. Make sure you have sufficient downloads of music, podcasts, books on tape, etc. And that your co-pilot (if you have one) is OK with your listening choices.

2. Load up a cooler with food, snacks, drinks for the floor of the cab. I like to use a few half gallon empty milk jugs as the ice packs. Last a long time and double as a cold drink.
 
Timothy F. Lewis said:
Just remember it’s a “rental” and who knows how it’s been treated.
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That's good advice for Tinder, too.;)

Jim C in Denver said:
1. Make sure you have sufficient downloads of music, podcasts, books on tape, etc. And that your co-pilot (if you have one) is OK with your listening choices.
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I'm thinking *lots* of Dave Dudley. ;)

No copilot, though. My wife and I are driving down together but obviously returning separately.
 
Just stay out of the truckers way if going down a steep incline.
They flash there lights get over.
I don't know if they still use CB radios but I would get a mobile.
 
Timothy F. Lewis said:
Just remember it’s a “rental” and who knows how it’s been treated. But, U-haul tends to be pretty good about keeping their stuff fairly well taken care of. You will be fine.
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Ha! Shirley, you jest. I've been involved in one, exactly one, U-Haul rental that went off without equipment availability or break down issues. There's a special place in my heart for U-Haul, and it's not a warm one.

Brad, get there early on the morning you're picking up. If U-Haul had availability issues, you have the option at that point of finding another rental. And do a good pre-flight inspection. Take pictures and note with the agent any pre-existing dings or damage. Check coolant, engine oil, transmission fluid, windshield fluid, etc. Ideally, take it around the block to make sure the instrument panel is fully functional (I'm not joking, a buddy's rental lost the instrument panel in a 300 mile move,) the brakes work, air conditioning, etc. And have U-Haul ready on speed dial for the trip.

There's a reason that U-Haul spent a fair amount of money a few years ago to acquire the u-hell.com and uhell.com domains.
 
I helped my daughter move several times back in the day, and each time I tried to rent a 10- foot truck but could never get anything smaller than 14 feet. My only advice is to be sure all your mirrors are properly adjusted before you move the truck, and, as much as possible, avoid having to back up. If you must back the truck, use a spotter to assist you. And if you lose sight of your spotter, STOP! Backing over one's spotter is considered poor form, even among professional drivers. 😉
 
Know your height! Be aware of the height! Look for anything that is lower than the height!

It sounds like a big "duh", but it is taller than an automobile and habits will cause you to think you are in a vehicle that is not as tall as the van.
 
Larry D. said:
I helped my daughter move several times back in the day, and each time I tried to rent a 10- foot truck but could never get anything smaller than 14 feet.
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This turned out to be my experience. I reserved the 10-footer 2 weeks ago and when we got to the U-Haul place on Friday I was told that no 10' trucks were available, so I was being given a 15' truck at the 10' rate. Which sounds good except that the bigger truck is rated at 10 MPG compared to 12 MPG for the smaller one, and driving it home through crosswinds definitely didn't help. I think we filled it to only about 25% capacity.

And to make it even worse, I had to miss the grill event in Illinois yesterday!

But we made it home, and once I got the feel of the truck I was perfectly comfortable driving it. Although I'm in no way saying I'd love to do it again soon.;)
 
Brad Olson said:
I reserved the 10-footer 2 weeks ago and when we got to the U-Haul place on Friday I was told that no 10' trucks were available, so I was being given a 15' truck at the 10' rate.
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Color me surprised..... :) Glad to hear that you actually got a truck.

When my g/f moved out of Madison 25 years ago (holy CATS!!!!) she had a 14' or 15' reserved. We were the first in line when the doors opened..... nope, nothing available for out of state rental, and absolutely zero desire or motivation to live up to their contract. I found a Penske 26' that was available with a hydraulic lift gate. We could have loaded her car in the truck, there was so much empty space, and it drove like a dream.
 
After we picked up the truck we were driving back to my in-laws' house and what should pass us from the opposite direction but a 10-footer! For a brief second I entertained the idea of tracking him down and "suggesting" a swap. ;)

I guess to U-Haul "reservation" means "we'll see what we have when you show up".:mad:
 
What Frank said plus one or two more. Wide turns ,even a 1 ton pickup has a wide turning radius, two keep your distance as braking will be longer due to the weight of your truck.
Relax and enjoy the trip driving thur St. Louis is not bad at all nice roads try to time your trip to miss the worse of rush hour.
And one more thing down load Gas Buddy to get good fuel prices along the way you can check towns along your route to see where you might want or need to stop.
 
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