You may have noticed Penske trucks in the back or front of your local Home Depot. Now, in addition to brokering Penske rentals, some Home Depots actually maintain their own branded moving trucks.
Naturally, we had to take a closer look and see how Home Depot stacks up against another major brand: U-Haul. While U-Haul advertises its moving truck prices “as low as $19.95,” Home Depot has a very different way of structuring its rental rates. This can make it tricky to determine the cheapest solution for your move.
We recently rented a Home Depot box truck for the same move we used a U-Haul for — a small, short-and-to-the-point move, about 8 miles of driving total. Here’s what we found about how Home Depot compares to U-Haul and other moving truck rental companies. Happy reading!
Home Depot Moving Truck Rental Prices
If you rent a Penske truck through Home Depot, you are subject to Penske’s rental fee structure. This isn’t the case, however, with a Home Depot model truck which is priced as follows:
- $29.00 for 75 minutes
- $21.00 for every additional hour
- $139.00 per day (regardless of number of hours)
- $973.00 per week
Home Depot’s pricing works a bit differently than moving truck rental companies like U-Haul, Penske, and Budget. Those are generally comprised of:
- Starting Price: Your daily base price ($19.95/day for U-Haul)
- Mileage Fee: How much you pay for each mile you drive
- Insurance (optional)
They also slap on a few small fees, such as:
- Vehicle Licensing Fee:
- Recovery Fee
- Environmental Fee
This all adds up to your total price — plus tax and gas, of course.
Home Depot Moving Truck Rental Pros & Cons
So, with all this in mind, how does Home Depot stack up against traditional moving truck companies?
| Pros | Cons |
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These are the primary differences between Home Depot and every other major moving truck rental company — plus the fact that Home Depot has no insurance packages available. While this means you may not be covered in case of damage to your items, this can also mean a cheaper final price tag. The truck is still covered by your own auto insurance, and proof of which is required to rent the truck in the first place.
Perhaps the biggest pro is the fact that there’s no mileage fee whatsoever!
“A 12-foot moving truck can generally fit one to two rooms, or a one-bedroom apartment…[s]o a Home Depot moving truck is probably perfect for a one-bedroom apartment or a minimally furnished two-bedroom apartment/home.”
When you compare this to U-Haul’s pricing policy, it’s kind of a big deal. U-Haul’s mileage fee is usually around $1.00 per mile. This means if you have a 100-mile round trip, then you’re going to spend around $100.00 on the mileage fee, plus the day rate ($19.95) and insurance ($20.00). When all is said and done, it adds up to about the same as Home Depot’s package price for one day ($139) for their box truck.
One benefit of Home Depot is that the Home Depot Rental Center is usually open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. That means you have 14 hours to get the most out of their day rate, which caps at $139.00 per day. If you use all that time, you’re paying about $9.93 per hour for those 14 hours, which isn’t a bad deal — but that’s assuming your local Rental Center is open that late.
See prices for local moving labor. Read real customer reviews. Easily book your help online.
Home Depot vs Uhaul Truck Rental: Which Is Cheaper?
Assuming you rent a U-Haul truck for an entire day, you begin to save dollars with Home Depot for every mile over 100. But since Home Depot also rents for 75 minutes and hourly from there, it’s also worth taking a look at how much time your move will take. Weigh your final U-Haul estimate (you can get a quick quote on their website) against Home Depot’s estimated hourly total rate to see what the difference is for your unique situation.
The difficulty with making this comparison is that U-Haul charges by the mile and Home Depot charges by the hour. And, while it’s quite easy to estimate the number of miles if you know where you’re going, it’s just as easy to underestimate the length of time a move takes.
Let’s take our 8-mile move with U-Haul and compare it to Home Depot.
| U-Haul | Home Depot | |
| Estimated Time | N/A | 1:15 |
| Estimated Miles | 8 mi | N/A |
| Actual Final Bill (including gas and tax) | $52.40 | $32.42 |
If our move with Home Depot had gone past the 75-minute mark by an hour (which is possible if traffic or weather had been worse), we would have been paying $21.00 more and our bill would’ve looked like the following:
| U-Haul | Home Depot | |
| Estimated Time | N/A | 2:15 |
| Estimated Miles | 8 mi | N/A |
| Actual Final Bill | $52.40 | ($32.42 + $21.00) $53.42 |
Now the final price tags are just about neck and neck!
Let’s estimate what a half-day, 30-mile round trip might cost for a small apartment. This would be an extra 22 miles ($22.00 at $1.00 a mile) on the U-Haul truck, plus an estimated additional 3 hours ($63.00 at $21.00 for each extra hour) for the Home Depot truck.
| U-Haul | Home Depot | |
| Estimated Time | N/A | 4:15 |
| Estimated Miles | 30 | N/A |
| Final Bill | ($52.40 + $22.00) $74.00 | ($32.42 + $63.00)
$95.42 |
As you can see, U-Haul starts to pull ahead here.
Now let’s say you’re moving from Tampa, FL to Sarasota, FL, and make a round trip. That’s 120 miles, or 2.5 hours of driving.
| U-Haul | Home Depot | |
| Estimated Time | N/A | 6:00 |
| Estimated Miles | 120 | N/A |
| Final Bill | ($52.40 + $112.00) = $164.00 | $139.00 (Day rate) |
Home Depot is beginning to look pretty good here.
Remember, however, that Home Depot doesn’t offer one-way moves. You have to drop the truck back off at the same Home Depot you rented it from.
“The Home Depot in my area doesn’t offer any insurance plans…[i]nstead, they take your insurance information, and your own car insurance provider is placed on the hook…be sure to take pictures of your truck before and after the rental!”
But let’s say you were making a move from Tampa to Punta Gorda, a distance of about 110 miles. It’s not very likely someone would want to make the round trip back just to return the Home Depot truck, but it might be worth it if you had to drive back to pick up your second car, for example. That’s about 220 miles round trip, which translates to around 3.5 hours of driving. It might take 4 to 4.5 hours to load and unload a small apartment, but if you hit some snags, it could take up to 11 hours altogether.
| U-Haul | Home Depot | |
| Estimated Time | N/A | 11:00 |
| Estimated Miles | 220 mi | N/A |
| Final Bill | ($52.40 + $212.00) = $264.00 | $139.00 (Day rate) |
In this unlikely situation, you would save a boatload with Home Depot.
Moving Help
It’s worth noting that professional movers can become a key asset when choosing a time-sensitive moving solution. Since Home Depot is all about the hourly rate, having movers expedite the move can shave some time off of that final bill. But not only that, they can use their Tetris skills to pack the truck way more efficiently than most of us mere mortals ever could, which means fewer trips back and forth.
This article will help you determine how many movers you’ll need to hire. Once you’ve calculated the magic number, you can get a free quote here.
Home Depot Moving Truck Size
Although they do rent a couple different pick-ups and a cargo van, Home Depot only offers their brand of box truck in one size — 515 cubic feet. This is slightly larger than Penske’s 12-footer and slightly smaller than U-Haul’s 15-footer. That’s it. No other box truck sizes.
A 12-foot moving truck can generally fit one to two rooms, or a one-bedroom apartment. A 15-foot truck can accommodate a one-to-two-bedroom apartment or house. So a Home Depot moving truck is probably perfect for a one-bedroom apartment or a minimally furnished two-bedroom apartment/home. Of course, you can always make multiple trips, as long as time permits.
If you’re interested in Home Depot’s other branded trucks, here’s the lineup for the rest of their local-move vehicles:
- Cargo Van: 277.7 cu. ft. of cargo volume is not too shabby.
- T250 Flatbed: This truck is promoted as having a whopping ten-foot-long bed. This could fit oversized 10-foot sheets of plywood or a 10-foot-long couch.
- F250 Pickup: Our local Home Depot carries one regular F250 with an 8-foot bed. This is a pretty standard size, but you should check your nearest store to see what they have since it may differ and things change. Sometimes, for instance, they carry an F250 flatbed version with sides that fold down like the T250, which is good for moving lumber, pallets, and things like that.
Home Depot box truck insurance
The Home Depot in my area doesn’t offer any insurance plans of any kind for their box truck. No liability, no damage protection, no personal liability, no injury protection.
Instead, they take your insurance information, and your own car insurance provider is placed on the hook. So definitely be sure to take pictures of your truck before and after the rental!
See prices for local moving labor. Read real customer reviews. Easily book your help online.
Other Things to Know Before Renting a Home Depot Box Truck
Reserving your Home Depot box truck
To rent your truck you will need the following.
- A $150 deposit may be required. Credit cards are accepted. No cash.
- A valid driver’s license and proof of insurance are required at pick-up.
- Customers are responsible for the refueling of the vehicle.
- Vehicles must be returned to the same pick-up location.
As far as I can tell, it doesn’t appear that you can reserve a Home Depot moving truck online. Like the tools in their Rental Center, they’re rented on a first-come-first-served basis. However, this isn’t the case for their Penske trucks.
Out of the five Home Depots in our area, “0” box trucks were showing as available online. Despite this, I’ve seen at least one Home Depot moving truck at our nearest store many, many times. So I decided to just show up. And, lo and behold, despite what was advertised online, the box truck was dutifully waiting there for me in the early morning.
“Perhaps the biggest pro is the fact that there’s no mileage fee [for Home Depot’s moving trucks] whatsoever…U-Haul’s mileage fee is usually around $1.00 per mile.”
Moral of the story? You can’t trust what you see online or expect to reserve your truck ahead of time. Your best bet is to call the tool rental department in advance to make sure a truck is available, or show up first thing in the morning.
U-Haul trucks, on the other hand, can be reserved easily online. If you only have one day to move your stuff and you’ve booked labor to help you, plan to pick up the truck as soon as the Rental Center opens — or reserve a U-Haul or Penske truck if you want to play it safe (especially during the busy summertime moving season).
Home Depot Moving Truck MPG
Vehicle make, model, and year may vary by location, which means that not all Home Depot box trucks are created equal. You can at least expect the fuel efficiency of a U-Haul truck (since U-Hauls aren’t exactly jaw-droppingly efficient), but chances are it will be better than a U-Haul. Home Depot trucks are a newer thing, so the trucks themselves are likely to be fairly new.
The truck I rented was a new Ford Transit 350 HD, and it was quite fuel-efficient. It even had a little MPG indicator on the dash that tells you how you’re doing. Mine got 12 miles to the gallon. I drove 8 miles and only spent $1.39 to top it off when I was done.
It also had this nice complimentary dolly rental in the back. Score!
Refueling Your Home Depot Moving Truck
If your truck is not topped off upon return — that is, if it’s 1/32nd less than full — Home Depot may automatically charge a $15.00 convenience fee to refuel. Top it off, snap a pic, and keep your gas receipt! The Tool Rental associate will ask to see the receipt, which should pardon you for any fuel you used to get from the gas station to Home Depot.
Home Depot vs UHaul: Which Is a Better Deal?
We’ve said this before and we’ll say it again: U-Haul wins the short-distance race against virtually all of its competitors. So, if you need a truck for a quick in-town move, U-Haul’s pricing is really hard to beat — unless you can load, drive, and unload a small apartment and drop off your truck in under 75 minutes, which I’m not sure is humanly possible.
But if you’re only moving a few pieces of large furniture and that’s it, or if you have lots of miles to drive and don’t mind dropping off the truck where you picked it up, then Home Depot becomes a very nice alternative. Whichever solution you choose, good luck with your move!