Wondering Which States Americans Hate to Live In? Ask U-Haul.

Americans are dynamic people. World statistics on the number of cars per capita show that America is in first place among the "big" countries and in third place among all countries, behind the dwarfs of San Marino and Monaco.

Where do Americans drive other than to work, shopping, and perhaps to school? Americans move, and move quite often. They relocate to neighboring cities and distant states. By and large, the U.S. looks like a big monolithic country. In fact, the U.S. is a federal republic of independent states, each with many laws, many customs, and a unique political climate.

Does the changing political climate affect population migration between states? Of course, it does, but how? What if we were to express the movement of intra-American migration, not in words, but in the language of numbers? A convenient measure of internal migration could be the U-Haul Index.

U-Haul is a truck rental company used by many Americans who relocate. The rented trucks must be driven by U-Haul customers themselves, and payment is charged one way only. That is, after unloading, it is not necessary to return the vehicle to the starting point. If necessary, the U-Haul company will take care of it. Then the prices for transportation from point A to point B will be the same as from point B to point A, but only if the average number of customers is the same at both points A and B.

If the number of orders for trucks at both destinations is the same, then U-Haul has no problems.

If the number of orders is not the same, then U-Haul must hire drivers to relocate the empty trucks, and then pay to transport these drivers back.

Well, the author did make a point, sorta; but he did so in a diffuse, meandering, and unsupported sort of way.

His thesis statement does not come until the third paragraph, and it's in the form of a question, and it's not really his main point.

The statistics he uses are interesting, but most readers would like a graphic presentation, as well. Additional, confirming statistics would be useful, and professional.

And, his title and thesis are "which", while the concluding statement is "why".

I'm in a charitable mood, he gets a C-.

Not only is U-Haul expensive-—they have a much smaller payload in their trucks than Penske.

I am selling my property in N Nevada. Horse property —set up with separate enclosures for 12 horses. I am moving to So Missouri. I want more acreage & real grass for my horses.

I did all the work of laying out on graph paper what I would need to rent in U-Haul trucks. I was struggling with balancing the load. Then I finally got smarter & called U-Haul to ask then about their payload in their ‘26 foot’ trucks. After 3 local dealers told me they didn’t know/you are the first person to ask me that question in 22 years.......I asked for the number of their main office.

That operator knew immediately——7400 # was the payload in their largest truck. Therefore, with doing all the correct work to balance the load & to NOT exceed the 7400# per truck, I would have had to rent 2 U-Haul 26 foot trucks & 2 U-Haul 12 X 6 enclosed trailers. That cost was $5500 plus 7.1% local taxes. Almost $5900 total. Before I added the cost of the actual trip. Gas-food-motels-return drivers to their origin.

Keep in mind that U-haul ‘26 foot’ trucks are NOT a full 26 feet on the floor. They count the 3 feet over the cab—(Grandma’s attic) as footage. Also, the floor in a U-haul has wheel bumps, which calls for very tricky packing of items.

SOOOO-—next trip to Carson City, I stopped at the Penske dealer. THEIR PAYLOAD in the 26 foot truck is 17,000# per truck. That is 2l5% larger than U-haul I will only need 2 trucks, and their quote for each truck, appliance dolly, all the insurance I can get & taxes is $1634 a truck. I need 2 trucks for about a total payload of 21,000#. $3500 VS $5900 is another savings...and lift gates!!! I can do alot of fence revision for $2400.

Needless to say, I started all over with the graph paper & worked hard to balance the load for a trip of about 2000 miles. I have everything drawn out, and a packing sequence written up for each truck Every box & item is numbered, contents are ID’s in a spiral notebook, and the location of each item in the truck is noted on the box. I am hoping I can have a smooth loading process.

I am saving quite a bit by using Penske.

The Penske trucks have a FULL 26 foot floor, NO wheel bumps, & the roof is translucent. You are not operating in a cave while trying to load or unload. I can also get ones with lift gates if I order enough in advance.

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