U-Haul International, Inc. is a North American equipment rental company, based in Phoenix, Arizona, that has been in operation since 1945. The company was founded by Leonard Shoen (1916-1999) in Ridgefield, Washington, who began it in the garage owned by his wife's family, and expanded through franchising with gas stations. U-Haul is owned by Amerco (NASDAQ: UHAL), a holding company which also operates Amerco Real Estate, Republic Western Insurance, and Oxford Life Insurance.
Penske Truck Leasing Co., L.P., headquartered in Reading, Pa., is a joint venture of Penske Corporation and General Electric. A global transportation services provider, Penske operates over 216,000 vehicles and serves customers from more than 1,000 locations in North America, South America, Europe and Asia. Product lines include full-service truck leasing, contract maintenance, commercial and consumer truck rentals, transportation and warehousing management, and supply chain management solutions. Penske Truck Leasing's annual revenue is approximately U.S. $4.0 billion.
Budget Truck Rental, LLC is the second largest truck rental company in the continental United States of America with around 2,800 businesses and 32,000 trucks across the country. Budget Truck Rental was voted the best place to work in 2004 by the Denver Regional Council of Governments. Budget Truck Rental is owned and operated by Avis Budget Group, which was spun off from Cendant.
Ryder is a Fortune 500 commercial truck rental and leasing and supply chain solutions company. Founded in Miami, Florida in 1933 by James A. Ryder, the Ryder company began its business by hauling concrete. Within a few years, the business had expanded to leasing trucks for other companies and the company changed its focus from distribution to leasing. By 1939, the truck fleet had increased to 50. By the 1960s and '70s, Ryder had expanded into the distribution and supply chain markets, assisting other companies with the distribution management of their products effectively.
The Bekins Company was founded as Bekins Van Lines in 1891 by Martin and John Bekins in Omaha, Nebraska. The company soon established branches on the west coast and the Chicago, Illinois area. It claims to have developed containerization in 1920, and to have conducted the first transcontinental move by motor van in 1928. The company was acquired by GeoLogistics Corporation in 1995 and became an agent-owned company in 2002, making it a form of cooperative.
Since Wheaton Van Lines, Inc., doing business as Wheaton World Wide Moving, was founded in 1945, one thing has always come first, the customer. Founded by Earnest S. Wheaton more than 60 years ago, Wheaton has remained at the top of the list of moving and storage companies for quality and customer service. Wheaton is the only employee-owned van line, and our employees take great pride in ensuring that each customer we move has a positive relocation experience. Wheaton World Wide Moving not only moves household goods, we also handle corporate relocations and international shipments, as well as, logistics and hospitality needs. Our unparalleled commitment to quality moving and storage service has come to represent the Wheaton Way, and we are proud of what that stands for.
Two Men and a Truck was founded in the early 1980s by brothers Brig and Jon Sorber in Lansing, Michigan. Using an old pickup truck, they performed moves in their spare time. The brothers asked their mother, Mary Ellen Sheets, to create a logo for the new company. The stick figure logo has remained with the company to this day. In 1985, the company purchased a 14-foot truck for $350 and hired a pair of movers. The company website reports that this was the only capital investment ever made in the company, the rest of the growth made possible by profits turned from the company.