Truck Rental

[mickeyd]

I had to help move a few pieces of furniture of my son's today, including a queen size mattress. We do not have access to a truck, so we rented one from Home Depot. A Ford F-350. Cost was $19.95 plus tax~ NO MILAGE, just put in 1gal of gas for each 10 miles of driving. U-Haul wanted $19.95 plus .89 cents/mile. The only catch was that we had to finish our move in 75 minutes. We did it in 70 minutes.

Anyone have any other suggestions on how we could have done it cheaper (other than borrow from a friend)?

 

[Walt34]

It's not cheaper, but I bought a truck. First one was a 1985 Chevy, that lasted 18 years, followed by a 2003 GMC that was my retirement present from me to me.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

You found one of the truly el cheapo moving devices. Some of the stores require that you've bought something there that needs to be transported in the truck, and some have a really small mileage allowance before you have to pay extra....like 10-15 miles.

Trailer rentals at u-haul are about the cheapest. If the items can take a little wind, the open trailers are around $10 a day. Even the really big closed in trailers are something like $20-25 a day, no mileage.

You do need a tow vehicle though.

Best ROI of any tool/toy I ever bought was a 4x6 trailer for $299.

 

[travelover]

................ Best ROI of any tool/toy I ever bought was a 4x6 trailer for $299.

I bought one of those cheesy little trailers that fold and stand on end from Harbor Freight. It works great for moving light but bulky stuff like the rolls of insulation I bought this fall or claiming some craigslist prize. When it stands on end, it doesn't take much more room than a bicycle.


Harbor Freight Tools - Quality Tools at the Lowest Prices

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

I think you mentioned that before, and thats what pushed me to go buy one...which will be what makes it YOUR fault!

My wife was highly skeptical of whether it'd be put to enough use, but man has it. At least a dozen trips to the dump - twice with over a ton of tile and drywall - about a half dozen appliance/furniture "deliveries" and I moved our entire house on it a little at a time.

Whats cool about the smaller trailers is that if you're on a level enough surface, you can unhook them from the car and push them around into the back yard, or as I did, right up the front door to unload my two big screen tv's.

I cant stand this one on end, but I can shove it into the bushes until its pretty much invisible.

These were end of year clearance items at Home Despot. They'd sat outside all year and the wood deck was a little grayed and there was a speck of rust here and there. Nothing a little black spray paint and a $2 gallon of premium exterior paint from the "oh, thats not the color we wanted" shelf at HD couldnt fix.

 

[honobob]

CFB What's the DMV costs ETC. here in CA or are you toteing under the radar?

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

There was some sales tax and a one time fee for the permanent license. I think you used to have to pay every couple of years in CA but not anymore.

I added it to the insurance on my truck. It was something like $15 a year to cover it for liability, theft and collision with a $50 deductible.

 

[cantlogin]

I foolishly believed that trailers were dumb until I bought a 5' X 10' landscape type Carry On. It realy is useful and convenient for hauling all sorts of stuff. This trailer is far superior for hauling than any pick up truck I've had. It's much easier to load and unload too. It does require that you plan ahead however.

I keep mine in the garage.