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Last Updated: Sep 18, 2023
Budget charges cheaper than half of what is charged by U-Haul for mileage, so you can drive long-distance and make several trips back and forth in a Budget moving truck while you still save money. Local moving prices at Budget are the cheapest in the moving truck rental industry.
This implies that if your moving is to a local distance and you have plans to save money; Budget is your most relevant option.
Before you decide, let’s make a comparison between the two companies to provide a better answer to this question.
| Parameters | Budget | U-Haul |
|---|---|---|
| Truck sizes | 5 | 7 |
| Locations | 1,600 US branches | 21,000 branches in US & CA |
| Median local price | $27.61 + $0.47 per mile | $38.70 + $0.99 per mile |
| Median long-distance price | $2,080.00 | $1,945.68 |
Budget and U-Haul are much similar, such as moving help, long-distance rentals, and excellent insurance coverage options. To not waste your time, we will rush to the detail of this comparison between the two companies – pricing, availability, and additional pricing.
Budget charges an average of about $10 cheaper than U-Haul for local prices. Local moving price rates at Budget are the cheapest in the industry.
| Parameters | Budget | U-Haul |
|---|---|---|
| Median price for rentals below 100 miles | $27.61 + $0.47 per mile | $38.70 + $0.99 per mile |
You can now see from the table above that Budget’s price is behind U-Haul in local moves. Remember that these are mere averages based on around 60 quotes collected, though; moving truck prices differ depending on location as well as the time of year.
We’ve seen the prices of Budget for long-distance moves be much higher than U-Haul’s sometimes. In a scenario, Budget offered a rate that was approximately $600 higher than that of U-Haul for a move to Texas from Iowa. Also, for a move to Washington DC from Iowa, the rate charged by Budget was about $200 cheaper than that of U-Haul.
| Truck Companies | Price below 1,000 miles | Above 1,000 miles | Small rental trucks | Medium to Large trucks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Budget | $378.51 | $2842.31 | $1798.00 | $2352.00 |
| U-Haul | $296.56 | $2684.00 | $1499.27 | $2225.44 |
Budget and U-Haul both offer almost all the service you could ever need for a regular moving truck move. However, U-Haul provides some additional services that are not available at Budget.
| Service | Budget | U-Haul |
|---|---|---|
| Moving truck rental | Yes | Yes |
| Moving coverage | Yes | Yes |
| Packing and loading services | Yes | Yes |
| Vehicle trailer rental | Yes | Yes |
| Cargo trailer rental | NO | Yes |
| Self-storage | Yes | Yes |
| Moving container rental | NO | Yes |
| Packing supplies | Yes | Yes |
While both Budget and U-Haul are almost similar in pricing, Budget is the roundtable winner as regards discount. Below is a list of discounts that Budget offers:
To compare, the discounts listed by U-Haul online are kind of sparse, and it doesn’t mention specific discount rates for its rental trucks. This makes it difficult for customers to be certain of their expectations as regard price, whereas you can be certain of getting a certain percentage discount from Budget if you belong to any of the listed groups.
Since the prices from U-Haul are usually around 20% less expensive than that of Budget, getting one of these discounts can truly reduce your Budget price down to the price of U-Haul or even lower.
While the additional services and extra sizes of the truck from U-Haul don’t make it a much better option than Budget for most relocation, U-Haul is the best option when it comes to availability. The locations of U-Haul are more than 13 times above Budgets. U-Haul runs a huge 21,000 locations in the United States and Canada, so U-Haul appears to be lagging on these strengths, while Budget has 1,600 locations in the United States.
Even though Budget’s total number of locations is nothing to praise it for, but the nationwide availability of U-Haul only assures that there will be a location close to you, regardless of where you reside or are moving to. With Budget, there are limits to pick up and drop off locations and you will likely be required to drive much farther to pick and drop off your rental truck.
Regardless of the company you pick, you should conduct a small search to make sure you will have the nearest location to your origin and destination homes.
Prices from Penske are approximately the same with U-Haul and much costly than Budget when you are moving long-distance. We sure like that unlimited miles are included by Penske for 1-way moves, though, so you don’t get worried about charges for additional mileage. We also appreciate that Penske is direct with its pricing.
Both Budget Truck Rental and U-Haul may have partnerships with certain long distance moving companies. These partnerships could potentially provide package deals that combine truck rental with moving services. Inquire with both companies about any available partnerships.
Eight (8) to fourteen (14) miles per gallon (mpg). While this is not so impressive when compared to a regular car/sedan, it is much decent for a 12-ft moving truck.
Yes. The two companies provide shipment vans, which are ideal for small, local moving such as transporting washers, furniture, and dryers.
Yes. Budget Truck Rental takes debit cards. It also takes prepaid cards. Check the online customer service section of the company’s website to know more concerning Budget Truck Rental and debit cards.
You need a moving truck between 16-ft and 22-ft long to transport a 4-bedroom house.
While U-Haul’s long-distance prices can be lesser than that of Budget, they are sure not the cheapest in the moving industry. However, local prices from Budget the overall best in the industry.
Considering the various discount offers, the company also outsmarts U-Haul in the company’s long-distance moving price, which is cheaper. Due to all of this, we consider Budget a bit more of a better place to rent a moving truck than U-Haul.
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Thomas has a degree in literature from Stanford University and a profession in Mass Communication. Thomas is a member of the Moving Feedback research team, an expert in writing educative articles to help readers make the right buying decisions. He is well versed in moving industry matters to give the best advice on moving needs.