Top 5 Cheapest Rental Truck Companies of 2024 | Move.org (2024)

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Move.org collected 118 quotes, mystery shopped, analyzed reviews, and compared truck rentals to find the most affordable options.

Rental trucks are often your cheapest DIY move option because you do most of the work (like packing, loading, and driving) instead of hiring a professional mover.

But that doesn’t mean all moving truck rental companies are created equal.

They aren’t.

Some companies offer low quotes but have high final prices. Others have low rates for local moves but are more expensive for one-way trips. And so on.

We researched truck rental companies to find your cheapest options, and we identified the five best cheap truck rental companies:

1. Penske Truck Rental
2. Budget Truck Rental
3. U-Haul
4. Home Depot
5. Enterprise

We’ll walk you through the pros and cons of each truck rental company and help you find the cheapest option for your move.

Check out where these companies rank on our list of the best truck rental companies.

Compare cheap rental truck companies

All data as of publish date.
*Prices averaged for 5 home sizes across 6 distances over 100 miles. Mileage included in long-distance quotes.
**Prices averaged for 5 home sizes (when different trucks were available) for a distance under 100 miles. Prices do not include mileage rates.

Penske Truck Rental—Best prices on one-way moves

Penske has the most accurate quotes of any company we researched (meaning your quote will be basically the same as your final price). It’s the least expensive one-way truck rental option and also has larger trucks for moving big homes.

While it has high prices for local moves and smaller trucks (for smaller homes), its overall rates are lower than average. Its trucks also get the best gas mileage of any company in the business.

Penske Truck Rental costs

Data current as of publish date. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change. Average cost calculated by comparing rental costs plus fuel for four home sizes across seven distances.

What sets Penske Truck Rental apart?

Penske Truck Rental is the least expensive one-way truck rental option

Penske Truck Rental one-way prices

Data current as of publish date. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change. Average cost calculated by comparing rental costs plus fuel for four home sizes across seven distances.

Penske Truck Rental has the most accurate prices

At first glance, Penske Truck Rental looks like it’s hundreds of dollars more expensive than other companies. In reality, the company is just more up-front with customers about final costs.

Here’s why:

The cost to rent a moving truck is almost always higher than what you see in your initial quote. Many companies don’t include fees, deposits, or taxes in your estimate—and those can amount to hundreds of dollars.

We like Penske Truck Rental because it has the most straightforward pricing. Its quotes are nearly 100% accurate: the only cost not included is fuel. So, you can rest assured it’s the cheapest one way truck rental option for you.

By comparison, the average company charges about 40% more than your quote.

Truck rental quotes compared to final prices

Data current as of publish date. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change. Average cost calculated by comparing initial quotes and final prices (including fuel costs) for four home sizes across seven distances.

Penske Truck Rental has the best gas mileage in the business

Don’t forget that you’ll need to fill up your truck’s gas tank when you move. That’s not a big deal if you’re moving only a short distance.

But the costs add up if you're traveling across the country. Different moving truck sizes get different gas mileage rates—which also vary from company to company.

We found that Penske Truck Rental can save you up to $60 in fuel costs compared to competitors.

Penske Truck Rental fuel costs

Data current as of publish date. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change. Average cost calculated by comparing rental costs plus fuel for four home sizes across seven distances.

Learn more in our Penske Truck Rental Review.

Budget Truck Rental—Best prices on local moves

Budget Truck Rental costs

Data current as of publish date. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change. Average cost calculated by comparing rental costs plus fuel for four home sizes across seven distances.

Budget Truck Rental costs for local moves

Data current as of publish date. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change. Average cost calculated by comparing rental costs plus fuel for four home sizes for a local move of 50 miles in which the moving truck is returned to the same location.

Learn more in our Budget Truck Rental Review.

U-Haul—Best insurance prices

U-Haul is probably the most well-known moving truck rental company. It has low prices for moves of 100 and 1,000 miles and the cheapest insurance.

On the other hand, super cheap U-Haul rentals are tough to come by. U-Haul’s overall costs are typically high, and its quotes aren’t very accurate: an average move with U-Haul costs about $400 more than what the company quotes you.

U-Haul costs

Data current as of publish date. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change. Average cost calculated by comparing rental costs plus fuel for four home sizes across seven distances.

What sets U-Haul apart?

U-Haul has low prices for moves of 100 and 1,050 miles

U-Haul often gives the lowest quotes but has the highest final prices. However, there are two instances in which it’s possible to find cheap U-Hauls to rent:

1. Moves of 100 miles. U-Haul’s price of $210 is $30 cheaper than the average.
2. Moves of 1,050 miles. U-Haul’s price of $2,310 is $260 cheaper than the average.

U-Haul has the lowest insurance prices

U-Haul insurance costs

Data current as of publish date. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change. Average cost calculated by comparing rental costs plus fuel for four home sizes across seven distances.

U-Haul has very inaccurate quotes

U-Haul has attractive quotes, but your quote does not equal your final price. U-Haul quotes include the cost of a moving truck rental and an environmental fee, but they don’t include other expenses:

• Taxes
• Fuel costs
• Mileage fees on local moves

The result is that your final U-Haul price is about 60% more expensive than your initial quote. For local moves, your final price is about 240% higher, while one-way moves set you back an extra 30%.

That means an average move with U-Haul will cost $400 more than your quote.

U-Haul quotes vs. final prices

Learn more in our U-Haul Review.

Data current as of publish date. Offers and availability may vary by location and are subject to change. Average cost calculated by comparing initial quotes and final prices (including fuel costs) for four home sizes across seven distances.

Home Depot—Flexible Moving Services

With Home Depot, you can rent a truck for local transport and one-way moves. They offer 8 ft. flatbed trucks, 10 ft. flatbed trucks, cargo vans, and 12 ft. HD moving trucks. Each option is available to rent for 75 minutes, per day, or per week. Home Depot offers unlimited mileage on all moving vehicles.

Home Depot offers flexible moving services for local and cross-country moves. They partner with BellHop to help manage the move and provide moving labor. The quotes are based on an hourly rate and number of movers.

Home Depot also offers moving help for moving from storage units and even extra help moving large items around the house.

What sets Home Depot apart?

Enterprise—Another option for local moves

Enterprise Truck Rental focuses on local moves. It has 14 different moving truck sizes (including a pickup truck and a cargo van), making it the largest assortment of trucks sizes offered by any moving company.

If you’re looking for a local move, Enterprise Truck Rental is a good option, but not necessarily cheaper than U-Haul with an average rate of $129 per day. Learn more in our Enterprise Truck Rental Review.

What sets Enterprise apart?

Recapping our five best cheap truck rental companies

• Penske Truck Rental—Best prices on one-way moves
• Budget Truck Rental—Best prices on local moves
• U-Haul—Best insurance prices
• Home Depot—Flexible moving services
• Enterprise—Another option for local moves

What is the cheapest moving truck rental company?

Other cost-saving resources

Methodology

Not sold on a truck rental company? Learn about other ways to save money on your move:

• How to Save Money on Your Container Move
• How to Find the Cheapest Way to Move
• What’s the Cheapest Way to Ship My Car
• How to Find Cheap Moving Supplies

Move.org analyzes and ranks truck rental companies using a five-step research process:

• Compare quotes. We gathered 118 quotes from five moving truck companies. These pricing quotes included trucks that can move single-bedroom apartments, five-bedroom houses, and everything in between. Prices also included moving distances ranging from 50 miles to 2,060 miles.
• Mystery shopping. We thoroughly review each company’s website and call every company several times to appraise the moving services, transit protection, and customer service provided by each truck rental company.
• Analyze reviews. To understand how customers feel about each truck rental company, we read through hundreds of customer reviews and analyze thousands of star ratings customers leave on third-party review platforms like Yelp and Google Reviews.
• Truck comparisons. We compare companies based on the moving truck sizes and truck types they offer (moving vans, flatbed trucks, box trucks, etc.). We also look at moving-specific features like loading ramps and tow dollies included with their trucks.
• Annual review. We annually revise our truck rental reviews and update them throughout the year to keep our recommendations up-to-date.