Penske Truck Rental

Penski did just fine. There were no delays. The truck itself had over 120,000 miles on it, and had a tendency bo buck while it was still cold. It was somewhat frightening at first, but the bucking stopped after a while each day and anyway I got used to it. The primary purpose of this review is to give some hints. 1) When renting the truck, pay little or no attention to the quoted costs, and simply ignore the discounts available to AAA members. That opening quote merely reflects what they would like to get. In our case, they initially quoted around $2,500, but agreed to $1,700 so readily that clearly that was the real price all along. I found it was worthwhile calling for quotes several times because they were not the same. 2) Purchase the waiver insurance that protections against damage to the truck. Most of us are not experienced drivers and regular auto insurance will not cover such damage. In fact, I did bang an overhead branch, and because I had acquired the insurance, Penske simply ignored the damage. 3) Don't worry about weigh stations. One needs to go through them, if they are open, but rented trucks are pretty much ignored. My wife was following me in the fmaily car, and she simply went through them too. Nobody cared. 4) Motels accept trucks. But watch out where you park because others can park near you, making getting out real tough given the vehicle's lack of maneuverability. 5) Have the Penske attendant brief you on the workings of the truck. It has lots of switches and some are not well labeled. 6) Don't expect to be entertained. First the truck is very noisy and the radio is not easy to hear. Second, you probably are going to want to concentrate solely on driving. It's not exactly difficult, but it can be a little tricky at times. 7) When filling the tank, continue to fill long after the automatic shutoff kicks in. Those shutoffs are designed for tanks with long necks, and these tanks don't have necks. That's particularly true when returning the truck, as Penske charges $8,00 a gallon if the truck is not returned fully fueled. Also keep one's eye open on diesel prices (shown in green on many signs) because filling up can entail 35 or more gallons (twice a day) and a small difference in price can result in many dollars in cost. Prices vary more between stations than they do with regular gas. Scrubby little places which don't accept payment at the pump can often be much cheaper than fancy stations. 8) Plan on driving no more that 8 hours a day. Driving a big truck is hard yet somewhat boring work and one doesn't want to be less than sharp behind the wheel.