U-Haul Holding Company

U-Haul Holding Company is the corporate parent of U-Haul, one of the best-known self-service moving and storage businesses in the United States and Canada. The company was established in 1945 by Leonard Shoen, who developed the business around a practical problem facing postwar American families: people moving between cities often lacked access to reasonably priced one-way transportation equipment. U-Haul built its original model around renting trailers that could be picked up in one location and returned in another, rather than requiring customers to bring equipment back to the point of origin. The company expanded that concept into a broad do-it-yourself moving platform. Its operations include truck and trailer rentals, self-storage, moving supplies, towing equipment, vehicle transportation, and related services. U-Haul's rental fleet has historically included cargo vans, pickup trucks, box trucks, trailers, tow dollies, and automobile transport equipment. Its storage network includes company-operated facilities as well as independent dealers and other locations that sell or provide U-Haul services. The company also offers boxes, packing materials, towing accessories, hitch products, and other items used by customers undertaking household or commercial moves. U-Haul Holding Company is not simply a consumer-facing rental brand. It is a holding company with operating activities centered on U-Haul International and related businesses. The group has also operated or invested in real-estate and financial-service activities, including property ownership, development, and insurance-related operations. These activities support the physical network and asset base required by the moving and storage business, while giving the company additional sources of revenue and asset value. The business has traditionally emphasized broad geographic availability, recognizable branding, a large equipment fleet, and a mixture of company locations and independent dealers. Its value proposition is aimed at customers who prefer to control their own move rather than hire a full-service moving company. This positioning has made U-Haul particularly visible during periods of household mobility, regional migration, housing turnover, and demand for temporary storage. The corporate entity was historically known as AMERCO. In 2022, AMERCO adopted U-Haul Holding Company as its corporate name, aligning the parent-company identity more closely with the operating brand that customers know. The listed company continues to trade under the UHAL symbol. Control and influence have remained closely associated with the Shoen family, reflecting the company's long history as a family-influenced public company. Today, U-Haul Holding Company remains focused primarily on North American moving and storage. Its operating model combines a large owned and managed fleet, reservation and distribution systems, physical rental and storage facilities, dealer relationships, and a national advertising presence. The principal brand is U-Haul, while the holding-company structure encompasses the corporate, real-estate, insurance, and other activities that support the broader enterprise.

U-Haul Holding Company's history begins in 1945, when Leonard Shoen founded the business in the United States. The initial idea was to make one-way household moving more practical by allowing customers to rent trailers in one place and return them in another. This differed from local rental models that required equipment to be returned to its original location. The concept matched the postwar expansion of home ownership, interstate travel, and population movement in the United States. Rather than relying solely on company-owned rental branches, U-Haul developed a distributed network that included independent dealers. This approach helped the company make equipment available in more communities while limiting the need to build a wholly company-operated branch network. Over time, the business expanded its equipment range from trailers into trucks, vans, towing products, and specialized vehicle-transport equipment. The company also broadened its service offering beyond transportation. U-Haul added moving boxes and packing materials, hitch and towing products, storage services, and portable storage through U-Box. Self-storage became an important part of the business, supported by facilities owned, operated, or developed by companies within the broader group. This combination allowed the company to serve customers before, during, and after a move, including customers who needed temporary storage rather than transportation alone. The corporate parent was known for many years as AMERCO. AMERCO functioned as the publicly traded holding company for U-Haul-related operations and associated real-estate, insurance, and other activities. The company became publicly traded, and its shares have traded under the symbol UHAL. Although publicly owned, the enterprise has retained strong Shoen family influence, particularly through Edward J. Shoen. U-Haul's growth was closely tied to the development of a recognizable national brand and a large physical fleet. The company used highly visible equipment, local rental points, dealers, reservation systems, and advertising to create a widely accessible alternative to full-service moving companies. Its principal customers include households relocating locally or across state and provincial boundaries, students, renters, small businesses, and customers needing temporary storage or towing equipment. In 2022, AMERCO changed its corporate name to U-Haul Holding Company. The renaming did not represent a replacement of the U-Haul brand; instead, it formalized the relationship between the public parent and its best-known operating business. U-Haul Holding Company continues to operate primarily in the United States and Canada, with its activities organized around do-it-yourself moving, storage, fleet management, real estate, and related services.

1. 2022AMERCO becomes U-Haul Holding Company

   The publicly traded parent adopts the U-Haul Holding Company name while continuing to operate under the UHAL stock symbol.

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2. 1945U-Haul is founded

   Leonard Shoen establishes the business and develops a trailer-rental model intended to support one-way household moves.

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A large-scale, self-service moving and storage platform offering widely distributed rental equipment, storage capacity, packing products, and related relocation services at locations across the United States and Canada.

• U-Haul truck rentalsMoving equipment rental

  U-Haul rents a range of moving vehicles, including box trucks and other commercial-style vehicles designed for household and small-business relocations. Customers generally reserve equipment for a specified period and return it to an approved location, with one-way availability forming a central part of the brand's historical proposition.

• U-Haul trailers and towing equipmentTrailer and vehicle transport rental1945

  The company rents utility, cargo, and specialty trailers, together with tow dollies and automobile transport equipment. These products allow customers to move household goods, motorcycles, vehicles, and other loads using a personal vehicle or a rented truck, subject to equipment and vehicle compatibility requirements.

• U-Haul Self-StorageSelf-storage

  U-Haul provides storage units through a network of storage facilities. The offering serves customers who need short- or long-term space during a move, renovation, lease transition, downsizing, or other change in housing or business circumstances.

• U-BoxPortable moving and storage

  U-Box uses portable containers to combine transportation and storage. Customers can load containers at a residence or another location, arrange for transport, and retain the containers for storage or delivery. The product extends U-Haul's self-service model beyond conventional truck and trailer rentals.

• U-Haul Moving SuppliesPacking and moving supplies

  The company sells boxes, protective materials, tape, furniture pads, moving kits, and other packing products. These supplies complement the rental business and provide customers with equipment needed to prepare, secure, transport, and unpack household or commercial goods.

• 2022Corporate name change to U-Haul Holding CompanyStrategy

  The public parent had long been known as AMERCO, while U-Haul was the principal consumer-facing operating brand.

  What changed. The company adopted U-Haul Holding Company as its corporate name and retained the UHAL stock-market symbol.

  Aftermath. The change clarified the relationship between the listed parent and the U-Haul operating businesses without replacing the U-Haul brand.

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• 2022AMERCO adopts U-Haul Holding Company name

  The parent company changed its corporate name from AMERCO to U-Haul Holding Company while retaining the UHAL trading symbol. The change brought the legal identity closer to the U-Haul operating brand.

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  Source

1. U-Haul Holding Company corporate website
2. U-Haul corporate website