My reign as a U-Haul dealership only lasted for a few months. Sadly, despite the size of the corporation and the number of long term dealerships across the country, everything is not as wonderful as it appears from the outside looking in. The reality is that this is a very rough business to get established in and to sustain. While I am certain that not all areas will result in the same issues that I have faced, I did want to make readers aware of some of the problems I experienced as a dealership.
Area Representatives
The role of the area rep is to oversee multiple dealership locations within a specified area. My area rep had about 30 locations to oversee so I could understand his stress level. However, when a dealership needs the basics to make their location a success, they are supposed to do everything they can to help you get going to make the location work. Their income is directly tied to the success of their dealerships; they earn a percentage of every rental completed by each of their area dealerships on top of their base salary. Unfortunately in my case, this led to a greedy U-Haul employee who was merely concerned with cashing in on the work of others and chose to break several rules in establishing my location, ultimately leading to the demise of my dealership very quickly.
Local Competition
The U-Haul Corporation has no limitations as to territories for dealerships to prevent overcrowding and related issues. If one dealership already exists in a given location, they will typically permit you to open another dealership right next door to the existing location. This will create unnecessary competition between dealers and often create confusion for customers. When I applied for my location, I did not realize how close I was to another U-Haul dealership that had two locations in the county and had been successful with his dealership for over 20 years. The area rep knew that I was less than a mile from him and that there was another dealership within 400 feet of that location as well. I was constantly going having my trucks transferred from under me to that other location so they could complete a rental and keep the commission instead of sending the customer to my location as I was told is supposed to be the corporate policy.
The Corporation
I honestly wish I could just be a location that does nothing but sell the retired U-Haul trucks. The sales department in Arizona is absolutely amazing to work with. Unfortunately, I cannot say the same for the primary corporate office. After months of being lied to and cheated by my area rep, I called out to my regional manager who provided no help. Finally I put a packet together of supporting documentation and drafted a massive letter pleading my desires to be a successful dealership for the brand and requested assistance. The corporate office signed for the receipt of my packet and never made any attempt to contact me to even discuss the concerns. A month later I closed the dealership.
Do not get me wrong, I still rent their trucks as a customer because most of the time I find great trucks in good condition and friendly dealerships. I could only assume the majority of dealerships do not have the experiences I had or they simply would not continue to open them and make U-Haul all that money. This is not an attempt to discourage would be dealerships, only a reference of what I dealt with and sadly tells me it could happen to anyone else as well, be aware and best of luck if you decide to go forward with this brand.
