Anybody successfully rent a truck from Reno in 2013-4?

[Koffee]

Hey all from Toronto,

Our group sadly skipped this year's burn, and now eager to get dusty again we begin planning (fun!). In the past, we've rented a small truck for the event to haul us in. The Budget location in Reno were super helpful and seemed to cater to us burners for a few years, sending additional fleet to help the demand, etc. In 2013, the corporate suits put their foot down and pulled all reservations for the week of the event. Luckily, that year we decided to travel in an alternative vehicle and didn't have to deal with that.

My question is: has anybody successfully rented a truck from Reno or nearby for this year's burn? Last year's?

Cheers!

[pink]

U-Haul started renting to burners this year. Lots of them on the playa this year, and lots from Reno. One of my friends works for Uhaul in Reno & a lot of their trucks went to the playa.

[lucky420]

I rent from Budget every year. 2013 did have the corporate problem but last year they had enough trucks, there wa no scaling back. I will rent from Budget again next burn

[Koffee]

Thanks guys, a slight weight of uncertainty has just lifted off my shoulders reading that. I've tried U-Haul in Reno in 2012, but they pulled my reservation in May My friend had even worse luck - reservation pulled 2 days before boarding the plane the following year So, f*ck Uhaul. I'll never rent from them again, for anything.

Lucky420, just to be clear, you've used the location on Gentry Way, right?

[lucky420]

Thanks guys, a slight weight of uncertainty has just lifted off my shoulders reading that. I've tried U-Haul in Reno in 2012, but they pulled my reservation in May My friend had even worse luck - reservation pulled 2 days before boarding the plane the following year So, f*ck Uhaul. I'll never rent from them again, for anything.

Lucky420, just to be clear, you've used the location on Gentry Way, right?

Yes and I make my reservation early.

[MacGlenver]

Any experiences in SF? Last year we got royally screwed by various local Budget truck locations (initially one in East Bay). Basically the day we were supposed to pick up the truck, i got a call saying "we're gonna try to find you a truck if we can". What it turned out to be (though the guy wouldn't exactly admit it) was that he didn't want to honor my discounted rate, so he tried to say he didnt have any trucks, and tried to pass me off to another shop. The second shop didn't get any details about my reservation, so when I told him the rate I was supposed to get, he refused to take me. After several hours on the phone with local (yelling at people) and national Budget logistics (begging for mercy & help) they found one guy in Marin that had a truck, but I had to pay way more. I ended up getting credited $1,200 by Budget national for the extra cost & gas, etc.

We fear a repeat this year... *fingers crossed*

Anyone have a strategy for mitigating this risk? We're picking our truck up 2-3 days early this year, for starters...

[Drawingablank]

I concur with Lucky 420, gentry way budget has been a rock solid source aside from that one year. As of last year Uhaul is now renting to burners as well from what I understand.

[zorro sings]

We have rented from Budget for years. Not this year though. Budget is charging roughly 3x the price U-Haul is charging for the same size truck. Important to remember that Budget,at least since 2004,has been the only place in Reno you could rent a truck for The Project. Finally now we have some competition and Budget can no longer gouge Burners with impunity. Just for clarity sake we told U-haul exactly where the truck was going. No problem.

[lucky420]

Good to know for future reference. I reserve in early Feb and think I got a decent price locked. Maybe not

[zorro sings]

Well we reserved early March and the price difference was staggering. I have kept the Budget reservation just in case U-Haul comes to their senses.

[pink]

Member of my camp rented from Uhaul in Reno (through other camp member that works there) and a few days ago got a letter from Uhaul asking him if he was at all flexible; could he pick up outside of Reno, like Sacramento? Well he just happens to be flying into Sac, and was going to ride with me to Reno. Win-win! They gave him 500 extra miles too. And he's picking up at the Uhaul less than a mile from my house.

[trilobyte]

If you're just now shopping for your rental vehicle out of any city... you've already fucked up badly. I'm sorry, it's true, but you're doing it wrong.

Most rental companies will start taking their bookings at 6 months out from the rental date. Long before the event started to sell out, rentals would book up and rates would skyrocket well before summer started. At this point, be thankful that you're able to find someone who has something you can rent, and for future planning set yourself a calendar reminder for late February 2016 to start comparison shopping and booking your rental. In most cases a car or truck rental reservation can be canceled with advance notice, so you can line that stuff up even before you've got tickets sorted.

That said, while we did revise our ToS and add a commerce policy earlier this year, we do not allow vehicle rentals/listings/classifieds. Fortunately the internet has loads of resources to search for such things, good luck doing your due diligence and comparison shopping. Also, make sure to read the fine print of any contracts (both online and in person), and be careful when renting ANY vehicle to make sure that you return it in as good a condition as it was when you rented it. Anything less reflects badly on the whole Burning Man community (they lump us all in as dirty hippies who trash vehicles) and leads to fewer vehicles and increased rates in subsequent years.

[mudpuppy000]

Member of my camp rented from Uhaul in Reno (through other camp member that works there) and a few days ago got a letter from Uhaul asking him if he was at all flexible; could he pick up outside of Reno, like Sacramento? Well he just happens to be flying into Sac, and was going to ride with me to Reno. Win-win! They gave him 500 extra miles too. And he's picking up at the Uhaul less than a mile from my house.

Hopefully the extra miles offset the gas cost. Our truck used to come out of Sacramento fully loaded and I think they had to refuel before they even got to Reno.

[pink]

Most of the loading will be in Reno, water for the BxB riders, etc. he's using the truck mostly as a home during the burn. And now we can both pick up ride shares.

[MacGlenver]

And then there was this: http://www.uhaul.com/Burningman/



PS -- not trying to advertise... but uhaul has a site dedicated to b-man... with instructions of how to cover logos for the burn.... what parallel universe am in?
PPS -- they sell a logo cover kit... as my roommate just put it, they've commodified decommodification....

Brain is exploding.

[MacGlenver]

PPPS - I've decided I'm in favor of this. Let uhaul prove me wrong... but good for them.

[Sic Pup]

Points for the thought.

Raspberries for the research ("vehicles with logos not allowed in")

or

Kudos for marketing ($25 for a roll of paper - choke)